Every Life Needs Light
by DarkHellia77
Summary: It's been a week, and the guild is still partying on about the return of Lisanna. Lucy was soon ignored by Natsu, and to make it even worse, he kicked her off the team and kissed Lisanna in front of her while not caring about her unhappy feelings whatsoever. She finds a forbidden book in Fairy Tail's library the next day, and also encounters someone surprisingly caring as well.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. Hiro Mashima does. This story was made for fun, and not for cash. (How unfortunate.) **

**I've decided to do another Lucy/Natsu/Lisanna story again, but this time things can be different than before.**

* * *

At the Fairy Tail guild, a party had been going on for seven days to celebrate Lisanna Strauss returning from Edolas. It was a miracle that she had just been sucked into an anima taking her to Edolas, but what was an even bigger miracle was that she had come back. Everyone hadn't slept for a week, yet they still had energy to spare. Well, almost everybody did.

Lucy had been sitting alone at the bar all week, and for the whole time, everyone was completely ignoring her like she wasn't there. Even her team, Team Natsu, wasn't taking any jobs because they were too busy listening to the white haired mage tells stories about her adventures in Edolas. This meant that Lucy had to take a lot of solo missions; her monthly rent of 70,000 jewels wasn't going to pay itself.

Each time Lucy came back from a mission, she would have the occasional cuts and bruises. The only people that did acknowledge her were Wendy, Carla, Gajeel, Lily, Levy, and Master. Wendy would of course heal her injuries and Levy would keep her company, most of the time. Right now she was on a job with team Shadow Gear, Gajeel and Lily are off training somewhere, and Wendy is with Carla, also on a job, leaving her alone for a while.

Nobody had noticed her for five days, but she tried her best to not let it bother her and she didn't blame any of her nakama for it. After all, a long thought dead nakama just came back. She deserved this kind of welcome home celebration.

"Mira, can I please get a sugary cup of hot tea?" Lucy asked with a small smile on her face.

"Whatever, Lindsay." She replied nicely while smiling over at Lisanna, who seemed to be discussing something with Team Natsu at the moment.

Lucy sighed sadly at the fact that Lisanna was getting all the attention for people to not even remember the name Lucy Heartfilia. Still, Lucy did realize that Lisanna had recently returned from Edolas and they would do the same for her in that situation.

As she drank the sugary tea from the cup, Natsu came over to the bar with his signature confident grin and sat down on the barstool next to her. Lucy had remembered that today was the 1-year anniversary of her and Natsu becoming girlfriend and boyfriend, and she felt like reminding him. However, the next announcement would be much more climatic for their relationship.

"Hey, Luce." he casually said, as he put his arm around Lucy's shoulder, making her blush a bit. She knew that he always came to her when he was ready to go out on another job and she loved being with him wherever they went.

"Yes, Natsu?" She replied with a light pink blush on her face while smiling at him.

"I've been thinking, and I've decided that Lisanna needs to join the team. For us to not have too many members in our group, I think Lisanna should take your place." Natsu said in a serious tone, still thinking Lucy was fine with it.

"What? Why, Natsu?" Lucy responded, as the words her lover had just said were really shocking and hurtful.

"You aren't exactly the best when it comes to fighting, and I always have to end up saving you because you can't handle it on your own. The team is only as strong as its weakest link and you just keep the rest of us back. The team doesn't need to be dragged down by dead weight, you know." He stated nonchalantly.

Then, Gray and Erza walked over to the bar with Lisanna taking a seat next to Natsu on the other side of Lucy.

"Look at the bright side, Lucy. Now you can train more, so you won't be so weak. I'm sorry, but for once I have to agree with Natsu." Gray added in a cold tone, as he glared at Lucy.

"You guys think I'm weak? That's not true! I can be useful! I'm not weak… Erza believes me." Lucy said with her voice breaking, as her eyes were starting to water with tears threatening to fall down her face. Her body slightly trembled, and her hands were shaking the most.

"Actually, I agree with these two. You always complain about your rent, now you won't have to share the reward when you go on a job." She said harshly, taking a rough bite out of her strawberry cake.

Lucy couldn't believe the words that were coming from the people who she believed were her nakama. She felt betrayed, shocked, confused, angry, hurt, and many other negative feelings reached her heart that had a slight crack in it right now.

"Lucy, are you ok with Natsu's decision?" Lisanna asked with a smile on her face, as she kissed Natsu on the cheek. Seeing that made Lucy gasp in shock and breathe anxiously while more tears went down her face while she looked extremely unhappy and uncomfortable right now.

"Oh, yeah! I almost forgot! Listen up, everybody! This is the day that I met the love of my life, and we have such good chemistry! Let's cheer once more for me and Lisanna Strauss, everybody!" Natsu shouted happily, before looking into Lisanna's eyes and giving her a passionate kiss on the lips.

By this point, the emotional crack in Lucy's heart had grown large enough to break it into a million pieces and she put her hands over her crying eyes to save herself more pain from watching Natsu's lips pressed against Lisanna's. She had loved Natsu with all of her heart, and now he stomped on it like she meant nothing to him.

How could he just throw her away like she was trash? How could Natsu kick her off the team, and expect her to be okay with it? How could he leave her for another girl, just because they knew each other for a longer period of time?

Lucy tried to hold back the tears as much as she could, and without even thinking, she gave Natsu a hard slap in the face. He had just cheated on her, after all. Lucy knew he'd be angry with her, but would he show a slight bit of sympathy if she were crying her eyes out?

"What the hell is wrong with you, Lucy? What did you do that for?" He asked in an amazed tone, not realizing what he had done.

"It hurt me deeply when you kicked me off of the team, Natsu! You made things worse when you kissed Lisanna, too! Natsu, I thought I meant something to you! Don't you even care that today is our 1-year anniversary of our relationship?" Lucy told him while she trembled in sadness as she still cried.

Natsu's eyes widened at first, but then they went to a much more serious look as he replied, "Sorry, Luce. I won't take back what I said. Lisanna and I knew each other long before you came along, and I won't hurt her feelings!"

"You don't care that you're hurting my feelings right now, but you'd do anything to make Lisanna happy? You don't care about how much I loved you?" Lucy replied softly while the tears temporarily receded, and her blonde hairs covered the unhappy look in her brown eyes.

Natsu told her with an angry look on his face while clenching his fists, "Stop being so selfish! Think about how I feel. If you like me, you should have said so earlier! Now, I've made my choice and can't turn back! Lucy, stop thinking about yourself! Stop being a selfish, whiny, spoiled baby about this! Are you crying because you scold me like a bitch most of the time, but you can't handle it when someone does that to you?"

Lucy felt like she had just been stabbed repeatedly in the heart with every word Natsu had said, and she couldn't even resist crying at this point. He had showed her his feelings for Lisanna to be true, and he didn't even care that Lucy felt like a small insect that had just been crushed by Natsu, Lisanna, Gray, and Erza.

"Natsu, I'm sorry about slapping you." She managed to say, as her throat constricted a little while she cried.

"Don't even try that hypocritical shit with me, Luce! You know what? I'm through with this crappy argument that's getting nowhere. I can't get you to listen to reason because you're just useless! You can't even understand how you act like a spoiled princess who lets everyone else do all the work while you just act like a bitch! That's all you're good for, and no one wants you here!" Natsu shouted, as he grew angrier with Lucy being upset over Lisanna and not just accepting this whole thing in stride.

His last sentence resonated in Lucy's mind for what seemed like an eternity, as she stood there perfectly still with her head tilted down and tears falling from her eyes as they made rivers down her face. Natsu had just displayed his true feelings toward her, and Lucy felt like her whole world had come crashing down.

Lucy was hyperventilating now, her body threatening to give way from under her. She could feel the world spinning in a whole new way, but this time, it was like her entire being was being rewritten. She felt as if her entire friendships with the members of Team Natsu were being reshaped, the tones and tenses behind every spoken word gaining new meaning, darker meaning. She felt her whole mind revolt against her as memories old and new re-mastered themselves with new purpose, every syllable holding some new malice or harm, and it made Lucy weep.

She didn't even bother to look at them, as she ran out of the guild while crying loudly and covering her brown eyes with her hair. While she ran back to her apartment, rain poured down heavily from the dark clouds that had obscured the blue sky and Lucy screamed up at the sky in agony at what Natsu had said and did to her.

She could only walk through the harsh downpour of rain that seemed endless, as it came from the large dark clouds up above. Lucy let out a sigh when she turned back to hear Natsu and most of the other guild members partying like nothing had just happened, and she then realized that no one cared for her at all.

* * *

**How was Chapter 1? ****I may update daily or weekly, depending on when I have free time.** Criticism and good reviews are greatly appreciated for the next chapter, and for possible pairings and ideas later on. Anyway, let me know your thoughts on this!


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. This story was made for fun, and not for cash. (How unfortunate.)**

* * *

Lucy found herself back at the Fairy Tail guild, and it was empty and much darker than before. Looking through a nearby window, she noticed that the sky was black and cloudy without any stars being seen. Lucy had wondered how she got back here, since she had gone back to her apartment. What was going on?

As she proceeded to walk out the entrance doors to the Fairy Tail, they suddenly slammed themselves shut on their own. Lucy gasped in shock, and quickly ran over to the doors to try and open them. Even though she was using all the strength in her arms, they weren't budging one bit.

The guild was in utter silence in the darkness of the night, and Lucy could hardly see anything. A look of fear made its way upon her face, her legs trembling like there was a chill in the air. Her breathing became slightly anxious, as she heard the soft squeak of a barstool and someone sitting down.

"Who's there?" Lucy asked in a timid tone while she hid under a table, in case it was a robber who was trying to steal something from the guild.

The person made a flame engulf his left hand while replying angrily, "I thought I told you that no one wants you around here! Get out, Luce! If you're here to take me back, then don't even try it! I've always loved Lisanna, ever since she and I were little kids! If you can't listen to reason, I'll have to burn some sense into your head!"

Lucy recognized that the voice belonged to Natsu, and the flame on his hand made the left side of his face visible. There was anger in his eyes, and Lucy could tell that he wanted her to be gone from his life for good. Her body shook with fear, and her eyes began to be filled with water. The doors were somehow locked, and Lucy was only wearing her pink pajamas. She didn't have her keys with her, so she was defenseless right now.

"Natsu, please… Why can't I just be a part of Fairy Tail, the guild that I love? How could you even intend on incinerating me like this? Why can't you just let me go back home, where I should be right now?" Lucy asked in a fearful tone while a tear rolled down her cheek, as her body continued to tremble in fear.

Suddenly, the room began to change into Lucy's apartment and she could only gasp in shock and watch what was happening. Flames were consuming everything at a slow pace, and even her keys were melting and burning while the intense heat was affecting everything. Things began to catch fire, burning relentlessly until they turned to ashes.

The smoke made Lucy cough and nearly choke while her eyes watered. She could see the red and orange glow of the flames, and she didn't like it. Tears made their way down her face, and she was paralyzed by fear, which prevented her from moving to attempt to save anything from Natsu's large flames.

"I know you don't want me on the team, Natsu, but how could you do this?" Lucy asked in a sad tone while she began to cry and sniffle. Everything around her was burning, and there was nothing she could do about it.

Natsu replied with a smirk on his face, as a familiar female silhouette emerged from the flames unharmed and stood beside him, "Well, I didn't do it on my own. The new love of my life assisted me with our task of love. Here's the present to celebrate our relationship, Lisanna!"

Lucy could only continue to cry and tilt her head down in unhappiness. Natsu did this, as a present for Lisanna? Did he really want to burn away all the memories of Lucy, to make something supposedly wonderful for Lisanna? Was he really intent on starting his future of love, by charring away the past?

"Oh, Natsu! It's the most wonderful inferno that I've ever seen! The flames are so pretty! We should build a hot spring here, once our anniversary present burns out!" She told him with a happy smile on her face while blushing a light shade of pink, before kissing his cheek and leaving a pink lipstick stain.

Natsu looked into her eyes, and gave her the most joyful smile he could ever have on face. However, upon seeing Lucy crying on the corner of his right eye, he turned to her and then looked back at Lisanna.

Lucy couldn't take it anymore. Her legs somehow began to move, and she ran into a corner of her living room that wasn't surrounded by flames. She sat down with her hands on her knees, and Lucy hoped that this would end somehow. Unfortunately, Natsu and Lisanna began to grow in size and tower over her like they were giants.

"There's still one last thing to burn for your birthday gift to be complete, Lisanna!" Natsu told her with a smirk on his face, as a flame engulfed his right hand. Lisanna clung to his other arm, and gave Lucy a devious grin while looking down at how tiny she was compared to her.

Lucy tried to beg Natsu to stop, as he began to make a fireball that was aimed for her. However, she wasn't able to speak for some reason! This was definitely the end for her. She cried out more tears while hearing Natsu and Lisanna laugh together, and her body shook while Natsu launched the large ball of fire at her. There was nowhere to run, and there was nowhere to hide. Gathering all her willpower, Lucy managed to let out a loud scream of fear, when the fireball was mere inches from her face.

* * *

At that moment, she woke up in her apartment while screaming. She was breathing heavily and quickly, her heart palpitating rapidly like it was going to beat out of her chest at any moment. Her face was stained by tears, which had became sticky after crying so much while the night hours passed by.

While Lucy was also sweating, her cocoa brown eyes looked around in her room. Nothing was burning, and everything was intact. The only sound Lucy heard was her heavy breathing, and no one else had intruded into her apartment. Natsu and Lisanna weren't there, and she calmed down for a moment while a sigh of relief escaped from her mouth.

The sun rose into the sky, and that signaled the start of a new day. After a whole night of rain falling from dark clouds, Lucy smiled a little at the sight of the blue sky. No matter how many times the sun went down for the night, it always came back up the next morning. Lucy still sat up in her bed, and watched the sunlight land on her face ever so gently. She decided to get out of bed, and start her day like the morning sun.

Even though it was only a nightmare she had, Lucy knew that it meant something. She had to become strong, not to get her spot back on Team Natsu, but for her own sake. She didn't want to keep being the one who watches other people from the background while being useless and ignored, and she also wanted know the feeling of having pride in doing something that others doubted she could do on her own.

As the rays of sunlight shined through her window, their warmth coupled with the beautiful sunrise strengthened her resolve to get stronger. She took off her pajamas to go take a bath, and Lucy tried staying positive.

She soaked in the bathtub, which was filled with steaming hot water, and she closed her eyes while trying to relax and clear her head. With a sigh, Lucy stretched her body out and raised her arms high above her head. She felt the muscles click and pop in her arms and legs, and the hot water was soothing to them as well.

* * *

**30 minutes later…**

After taking a bath, brushing her teeth, blow-drying her hair, and fixing it into a ponytail on the left side while putting a blue bow in her blonde hair, Lucy picked out a black cheerleader top with a white skirt to match. She put them on over her lacy black bra and lacy white panties to match, too. She used this time selecting her clothes to wait for some waffles that had been getting crispy and golden in the toaster. When she heard them pop up out of the toaster, Lucy ran to the kitchen counter and picked them up without getting burned by their heat.

Then, she left her apartment to go find jobs at the Fairy Tail guild. As she was walking to the guild, Lucy still seemed uneasy about seeing Natsu again. That nightmare did seem pretty real, and she figured that even if they made eye contact then Natsu would still make out with Lisanna while ignoring Lucy.

"_Get a grip, Lucy! Becoming stronger is more important than some assertive jerk who could care less about you!" _She told herself while eating one of her waffles and narrowing her brown eyes as she tried to have a look of confidence on her face about entering the guild. She simply had to ignore Team Natsu, for the most part.

Upon seeing the guild's entrance doors within sight, since she ran so fast while eating her waffles, Lucy came to a halt before her hands could push them open. She was hesitant to open them, thinking that her nightmare would come true in the daytime. She had left her apartment unattended, after all. Lucy looked nervous to even touch Fairy Tail's large entrance doors with a single finger, but she also remembered the promise she made to herself. She would get stronger, no matter what roadblocks came her way.

* * *

Besides, today was a new day. Lucy didn't know what destiny had in store for her on this seemingly good day so far, but a look of confidence found its way on to her face and her eyes were filled with confidence as well. She took a deep breath, and opened Fairy Tail's front doors.

As the guildhall came into view, Lucy noticed that Fairy Tail wasn't being rowdy right now like it always was. Instead, the guild members were just sitting at tables and chatting. Mirajane was behind the bar, as Cana was drinking from a large keg like usual. Wendy and Carla were talking with Lily, Gajeel, and Levy, prompting Lucy to cheer aloud instead of in her head at the fact that the members of Team Natsu were gone.

"Hi, Lu-chan! Why are you so happy today?" Levy asked with a smile on her face while looking at her best friend.

It seemed like everyone was oblivious to the drama that had happened yesterday, or they had pushed it aside to focus on their own lives. Lucy smiled at Levy, who knew almost everything about every book. However, Lucy didn't know how to answer Levy's question. Saying that it was because Team Natsu wasn't here would make her sound kind of mean, so Lucy had to think of an acceptable answer.

"Well, it's because I just realized that the guild has a library for studying. I've wanted to enjoy some quiet time while I read about Magic. It wouldn't hurt to learn new things, right?" Lucy replied with a small smile on her face, as she looked back at Levy. Wendy and Carla smiled as well, while the conversation put Gajeel to sleep.

Lucy knew she was lying, but what choice did she have? Mentioning that she was heartbroken over Natsu would make her seem like a sad puppy, and Lucy wanted people to know she was aspiring to become stronger from this point on. She turned around when the doors creaked open again, and Lucy nearly froze when she saw that Team Natsu stood in the doorway.

They were busy counting the amount of jewels that they had in a large bag, and Lucy thought she could use this time for a perfect dash to escape their lines of sights. However, her legs were still frozen with fear from the nightmare. She looked afraid at first and began to think Natsu would come over and start drama with her again, but then Lucy heard Levy's voice calling out to her.

"Lu-chan, did you just hear me? The library is on the second floor of the guild, so go upstairs." Levy said while looking concerned and shaking Lucy. The blonde mage snapped out of her own thoughts and ran upstairs as quickly as her legs would allow.

* * *

The door to the library was conveniently in a place where no one could see Lucy from their frontal view, and she went inside. The shelves were large and lined perfectly with books on many things, and as she walked around, Lucy noticed that she couldn't find any spell books on Celestial Spirit Magic. Well, she expected that since that type of Magic was Holder Magic, which meant that items were needed.

Nothing on the shelves looked like it was appealing to her, and then something caught Lucy's eyes. A pink book was on the floor, and it had been opened. Lucy picked it up, but she didn't know which shelf it belonged on. However, she had to wonder if the contents of the book would make her stronger. Before she could even read it, the sounds of pebbles hitting the nearby window got the attention of Lucy's ears.

She opened the window to receive a pebble to the face by accident, and Lucy had bent over far enough for her to fall over the edge. Her luck was incredible. First, Natsu kicked her off the team. Then, he cheated on her with Lisanna. After that, she had a nightmare about them burning down her apartment just because it gave them pleasure. Would she really fall to her death, after seeing Team Natsu return from a job?

* * *

"I don't want to die yet! Not when reality and dreams have been completely unfair to me, lately!" Lucy shouted while she thought she was about to hit the ground. After a few seconds, she opened her eyes to find that she was still alive and perfectly intact. What caused her to survive a fall from a two-story window?

"Does this count as life being unfair to you, Blondie?" A male voice said, seeming to come from underneath her. Lucy quickly got off of the person who acted as the cushion breaking her fall, and she quickly recognized him from the blonde hair and blue eyes.

He was Sting Eucliffe, Sabertooth's White Dragon Slayer. He donned a blue vest with golden outer edges and inner edges covered by a prominent trimming of gray fur over a short, cream top, leaving his muscular upper abdominals exposed. His arms were covered by dark blue gloves reaching up to his mid-bicep, with their upper edges being adorned by light gray bands hanging down several centimeters. He wore loose, cream-colored pants, similar to Natsu's, but held up by suspenders, which are attached to the pants' loops by square-shaped rings. Over them, he donned distinctive dark blue galosh-esque footwear that reached up to his thighs and attached to the upper edge of his pants. The prominent soles of the "boots" were distinctive in their own right because they had rectangular protrusions pointing upwards on their front portion, reminiscent of square fangs.

Lucy knew all about fashion, but there was one thing she was curious about. What was Sting doing in Magnolia? Surely throwing pebbles at a window was not something someone would put on a flyer for a job, and it probably didn't have that well of a reward, either.

"Well, will you not thank me for saving your life?" He asked her while frowning and snapping his fingers in front of her face. Lucy immediately snapped out of her imagination of Sting making money in that unorthodox way and her brown eyes met the charming gaze from his blue ones.

"Oh, I forgot about that! Thank you, Sting! You really did save my life, but I don't have any money to give to you." Lucy replied in a calm tone, as a small smile appeared on her face. She knew that she had to show gratitude to Sting, but she didn't have any money on her. Realizing that all she had was the pink book she found earlier, she handed it to Sting.

"It's all right, Blondie. I don't need a reward. I just came here to get a good fight out of Natsu, that's all. I'm really bored." Sting explained while maintaining the usual smirk of arrogance he normally had when someone gave him thanks or praise.

At the mention of Natsu, Lucy remembered everything that had happened and she couldn't keep up her façade of being happy and confident like nothing had happened. Sobs were wracking her body, and tears immediately ran down her face. Her emotions that were bottled up had finally come leaking out like water from a broken pipe. She fell to her knees, and began to cry.

"I can't hold it in any longer! Yesterday was supposed to be my 1-year anniversary with Natsu, but he kicked me off the team because he thinks I'm weak! Then, he cheated on me with Lisanna and said how I was acting like a spoiled brat because I wasn't satisfied with all the hurtful things he said about me! Ever since Lisanna came back, I've had to go on missions alone! Natsu even said I was dead weight to him! Then, all the pain made me have a horrible nightmare of him and Lisanna taking pleasure in killing me!" Lucy shouted while putting her hands over her eyes, as she still cried and also told Sting how she had slapped that jerk out of pure rage.

Sting had a concerned expression, but he didn't know how to fix the sudden situation. He had never been in the position of comforting a woman, and he wished that Minerva had been here with him. She could tell her about all the times guys cheated on her because of her prissy attitude and magic that allowed her to teleport them to some far-off location if they did something she disapproved of. To this day, she doesn't know why they left her in the first place.

"It sounds like when Natsu sees a new girl he likes, he throws out his current girlfriend to be with her. I'd only treat an ex-girlfriend like crap if she had been bad to me, but you don't seem bad at all to be treated like scum by anybody. Well, take my advice. Natsu's the one who was a jerk, so it's really his loss. It sounds like you had every right to slap him, even if a kick to the groin would've hurt worse." Sting replied calmly, as he squatted down in front of Lucy and pulled her hands away from her eyes.

"Really, Sting? I told myself that I would become stronger today, but I guess I can't strengthen my emotions, no matter how hard I train or how many spells I learn." Lucy replied with a small smile, as she wiped away her tears.

"If you're think you're so weak, then I'll train you. Don't cry anymore, Blondie. It doesn't suit you at all. Tears ruin a pretty face, you know." He said while getting up and helping her stand up as well.

"Wow, you'll help me become stronger? Thank you so much! I'm Lucy Heartfilia, by the way." She responded in a tone that sounded somewhat happier.

"My name's Sting Eucliffe. I hope you remember it, because it'll be the name of Fiore's best dragon slayer soon enough." He responded arrogantly while smirking and giving her a thumbs-up.

"Cocky much?" Lucy countered jokingly.

"Just meet me tomorrow morning at 9 on the road exiting Magnolia that leads to the badlands. By the way, here's your book. The words change on every 10 or 15 pages, but I can't even tell what languages those sentences are in." He replied while handing her the pink book.

"All right, Sting. Thanks again, and I'll see you tomorrow!" She told him, before running back around the front of the guild and going through the entrance to the Fairy Tail building.

As Lucy was running, however, she didn't notice that the book of spells was emitting a glow that was pink like the mark on the back of her right hand. One thing was for sure, though. The sunrise that she saw this morning was definitely foreshadowing a good day.

* * *

**How was Chapter 2? I managed to update this today, and I'm satisfied with how it all came together. Criticism and good reviews are greatly appreciated for the next chapter, and for ideas later on. Anyway, I'd like to know what you think!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. Hiro Mashima does. This story was made for fun, and for cash. (How unfortunate.)**

* * *

The following day, Lucy arrived at the guild at 8:00 am to get a head start on her day. A nice smile was on her face, since she knew that Sting would be helping her train today. Lucy remembered how Sting hadn't wanted anything for saving her life, but she felt like she owed him for falling from a two-story window and unexpectedly using him as a cushion.

Her brown eyes scanned the request board that was filled with jobs, and she was looking for something in the area of the badlands or at least close to it. Something caught her eye, and Lucy grabbed the flyer sitting by itself at the bottom-left corner of the request board.

"_Not only is this enough for me to pay my rent for a while, but I can share it with Sting! He saved my life, and a Good Samaritan like that isn't around all the time when people have near-death experiences." _Lucy thought while she was unaware of the light pink blush appearing on her face.

Well, any girl would have blushed lightly if they had been saved from getting killed. Lucy moved a few inches over to the window to check her appearance and make sure that she looked good today. Her hair was tied in a side ponytail on the right side with a green ribbon, and she wore a green vest top and a matching green skirt. The green vest sported a collar and tie that reached only to her mid-chest, and aside from a light green cloth band clasped above her navel, her belly and the under-inside portion of her breasts were exposed. She wore green running shoes, just in case a rockslide would possibly occur. Lucy also had a green bow on the left side of her head as well. Since this job did have lots of reward money, which was green, it wouldn't hurt to dress for success.

As Lucy looked up at the clock on the wall, she noticed that it was only 8:15 am right now. It wouldn't hurt to get to the meeting point early enough to talk to Sting and get to know him, right? They only became acquainted yesterday, and he probably wanted Lucy to tell him things about herself, too. Trust was important not only in friendships, but on jobs as well.

"Hey, you dumb bitch! Get out the way already, if you know how to move your legs! I have to pick a good job for my team, so hurry up! It's not hard to pick a job!" Natsu yelled harshly from behind Lucy, as he proceeded to grab her arm from behind and push her down on to the floor.

"Natsu, that hurt!" Lucy told him while looking annoyed at the fact that he was acting like a brutal jerk and thinking he could just push her around. By this point, Lucy was tired of Natsu's crap. She was tired of him thinking he could just be hurtful and get away with it. She clenched her fists, and immediately opened the pink book of spells that she had held tightly in her left hand.

Lucy thought to herself, as her eyes widened in amazement at what she was seeing, _"Whoa, this is weird! I don't even know what language these letters are written in, but I understand the first line on the first page! I guess it's because the words are pink, but I can't read the words in black. Anyway, a certain jerk needs to learn his lesson."_

"What's the matter? Are you going to run home crying again, because you know I've moved on?" Natsu asked her with a taunting look on his face, as he saw her stand up and brush herself off.

Lucy had her hair covering her cocoa brown eyes like when she had run out of the guild crying, but this time her eyes had a look of toughness in them. She clenched her fists tightly, and her teeth were clenched as well. While Natsu laughed, he didn't notice that the pink book in Lucy's left hand was glowing again.

"I've moved on, too, and I could care less about a jerk like you! Consider this payback for yesterday! I call upon thee, the first spell, Heavenly Slice!" Lucy shouted fiercely, as the pink book glowed brightly with many pink beams of light shining from the first page.

Without even knowing the spell's effect, Lucy felt herself lunge towards Natsu at ultra high speeds and her left hand transformed into a claw with her fingernails turning long and pink! She slashed at Natsu with all of her strength in one strike, but he had leapt back at the last second.

As Lucy began to breathe and cool down a little bit, she looked at the clock on the wall and noticed that was now 8:30. She didn't want to be late for her meeting with Sting, and she certainly didn't want to be around Natsu any longer. Without even saying a word to Natsu, or anyone who was currently watching them, Lucy ran out of the guild. She didn't even care when she heard Natsu screaming about deep slash marks suddenly appearing on his chest, or how the sudden pain was making him bleed.

* * *

**15 minutes later…**

Lucy arrived at the road leading out of Magnolia that led to the badlands, and she saw Sting standing next to the wooden sign with his arms folded and a confident smirk on his face. When he saw what she was wearing, he smiled nicely and examined her from head to toe for a few minutes.

"Nice outfit, Lucy. I guess that sexy style is a good reason for you not getting here a little bit sooner like I expected." Sting told her in a calm tone, as he still smiled and heard her panting from running all the way from the guild.

"I would've been here earlier, if Natsu the jerk hadn't been rude to me earlier. I managed to read the first spell in the book, but I don't think it did anything to him when I used it. Also, it's convenient that we're going to the badlands. Look at this, please." Lucy explained calmly while handing the flyer to Sting, as she was catching her breath.

Apparently, the job involved taking down a Dark Guild in Iwa Town because it had rumors of stealing money from clients and making the guild wealthier. One person was supposedly doing all the work on their own, and they always targeted the wealthy clients. This criminal definitely needed to be stopped, that's for sure.

"This guy must be sure about his skills, if he's causing all this trouble by himself and not having any other people helping him. I'll consider this as your training, since we're both probably gonna have a tough time. Well, it might be tough for you. It would only be tough for me, if he eats light like I do." Sting said arrogantly while he gave Lucy his usual cocky grin.

"Let's just hope that we don't encounter too much trouble, Sting. It might be a trap, and his other allies might strike us when we least expect it." Lucy replied while looking cautious, as they began to walk down the dirt road to the dry and rocky terrain of the badlands.

The path looked long, with the canyons looking tiny in the distance, and Lucy didn't prefer to run again. She was still somewhat exhausted from running, and Sting took notice of this as he walked beside her. He picked up Lucy in his arms, and carried her bridal-style while he began to run fast down the path toward the canyons.

"Sting, why are we going so fast? Unless Natsu or anyone from Fairy Tail followed me, and you're smelling them, then give me a good reason!" Lucy shouted while looking freaked out as the wind blew through her hair while Sting ran with her and got a far amount of distance at an extremely fast pace.

The white dragon slayer jumped high into the air, and unleashed his White Dragon's Holy Breath attack! He released a powerful burst of light from his mouth, and it was aimed at the dirt path below. As a smokescreen appeared when Sting's attack hit the ground, Lucy looked amazed and immediately screamed in shock.

"Before you ask, let me show you. I'm guessing you haven't heard the rumors that have been swirling around Iwa Town, lately. Very few people have managed to reach the badlands, let alone the town." Sting explained while smiling down at the girl he held in his arms.

Lucy couldn't believe what she was seeing, as the smokescreen began to fade away. The area had turned from a long path of brown dirt to the ground looking red like the canyons around it. The walking path was somewhat narrow, and Sting put Lucy down for a moment.

"Hold on. The badlands looked far away at first, but now we're here already. Sting, what did you do?" Lucy asked curiously while standing up.

Sting responded with an arrogant look while sniffing around, "I guess Natsu and Gajeel never told you that dragon slayers like us can smell the exact locations of booby traps, too. That guy must be pretty sneaky, if he's setting illusion traps all the way near Magnolia. He just forgot that if the traps get destroyed, then the illusion wears off."

Then, Lucy gasped in awe when the pink book began to glow once again. It had been shining earlier when she was about to attack Natsu, but what explanation could there be for it to be shining now? The pink light became brighter, as Lucy opened the book to discover that she could read the second line on the first page.

"All right, then! The second spell, Heavenly Blast!" Lucy shouted confidently with a smile on her face.

A pink sphere appeared in the palm of her right hand, and it grew to the size of a massive boulder. Thinking that the spell appeared for this particular reason, Lucy looked at the rock wall to the left of her and slammed the pink sphere against it with all of her strength. A large blast of pink energy occurred immediately while Sting and Lucy closed their eyes to avoid the light and the chunks of gravel being made from the crumbling earth in front of them.

* * *

When the blast's pink light had faded away, Lucy heard the larger chunks of rock break apart in front of her and turn to dust with a resounding crash. Clearly, whoever wrote that book of spells was not messing around. Sting's jaw nearly dropped in awe at the sight of a village in front of him and Lucy.

The sound of the crumbling rocks gained the attention of a woman who looked completely stunned, and ran to the duo in utter shock. She had shoulder-length brown hair with a single lock falling into her face, and steel-grey eyes with orange marking in the corner. She wore what appeared to be an altered, purple kimono dress with red trimmings. She also wore a yellow sash around her waist and thigh-length stockings that merged into her sandals.

"Welcome to Iwa Town, if you're presumably mages. You accepted the job, correct?" She asked in a serious tone while locking eyes with Lucy.

"Yes, we did." Lucy replied with a smile on her face, as she showed the flyer to the woman in front of her.

Lucy looked at the village behind the woman to see that many of the buildings were composed of rock and stone; shaped from large, elevated formations of rock into tower-like structures. Many of its buildings sat on cliffs connected by a network of bridges. The mayor's palace seemed to be the tallest structure with a cone-shaped roof, distinguishing it from many other buildings.

She could see that the rocky mountain ranges that surround the town provided a natural stronghold. The town obviously profited from this advantageous position and was undoubtedly proud of its strong defenses. The town sat among a mountain range consisting of small narrow waterfalls, with the mountain path being on the southern end of the town. The opposite entrance, to be exact.

"Next time, please don't make your own entrance. Oh, well. It can be fixed easily with some Earth Magic. We should discuss the job at my house, so follow me. I'm Suzumebachi, by the way." She told them with a serious facial expression, before walking away.

Sting really didn't feel like following a cold and hardened chick that would probably doubt his abilities, but she would probably reward him with food or a giant statue to commemorate his success. He and Lucy followed Suzumebachi to her stone cottage, where she explained the situation.

"The Dark Guild known as Rock Wrecker has been acting up with their usual rowdiness on the town. Every day, they come to a house and take money from people. Even mages like me who live here are too afraid to confront them. Well, it's actually one person. They're bad news." She told them while looking depressed, her hands shaking while telling the story.

While Lucy listened to Suzumebachi tell her story of when it first began, Sting stepped outside for a moment. He didn't trust Suzumebachi at all from the start, and something else seemed odd to him. He took a walk over some bridges, and looked around. Sting couldn't see a single man, woman, or child in the windows of the houses, prompting him to immediately run back to Suzumebachi's house.

However, when he returned, he saw her tying up Lucy with ropes made of mud that was obviously created from magic. Glaring harshly at her, Sting unleashed his White Dragon's Roar and Suzumebachi was sent flying backward into the fast moving currents of a river that led down to a waterfall.

Sting pulled on the magic mud ropes surrounding Lucy, and he got them off with ease. She looked at him with a somewhat disappointed facial expression, seeing as she had been tricked by the weakest of villains. On top of that, she hadn't gotten much training done today when she promised herself that she would become stronger.

"Don't give me that sad face, Lucy. The first day of training was a total bust, but at least we stopped a scammer from continuing her scamming ways. You have to be happy about that, for sure." Sting told her in a comforting tone while putting his hand on her shoulder.

"Yeah, Sting, but we mostly came all the way here for nothing. I won't be able to pay my rent at all, without any money! I'm sorry that I brought you with me. I was going to split the reward money with you for saving my life yesterday." Lucy explained with a look of failure in her eyes, as she tilted her head down to look away from Sting.

He had to think of something to make her happy, but what? Since these houses were probably used by Suzumebachi to stash away all the money she probably stole from many places, since the quest she made up was mostly false in its entirety, he ran to each house to do some searching. He had just offered to train Lucy, but she had wanted him to go on a request with her. After their meeting yesterday, and Lucy telling him everything she went through, Sting made sure Lucy wouldn't leave this place empty-handed.

As he checked each house, and found bags of money with some empty bags as well, Sting put the bags of jewels in the empty bags because they were larger. After checking each house, he came back to Lucy with two large bags of jewels.

"You can take one, Sting. Like I told you, it's my way of showing you my gratitude for saving my life. I'll always be grateful to you for that, you know." Lucy told him while her brown eyes twinkled slightly as a smile found its way to form on her lips.

* * *

When Lucy finally got back to the guild, she opened the front doors and announced that she was back while not making much eye contact with the members of Team Natsu. She was about to say hello to Levy, when someone lightly tapped her on the shoulder from behind.

"Hey, you forgot this." Sting told her with a smile on his face while handing the pink book to Lucy. As she took it from him, Lucy gasped in shock when she saw Erza run towards Sting from behind and raise her blade into the air.

"What do you think you're doing here?" She asked in a cold tone with an intense death glare on her face, as she was about to make her blade go down into his face when he turned around.

* * *

**How was Chapter 3? I really like how this story is coming along so far, but that's just my opinion. Criticism and good reviews are greatly appreciated for the next chapter, and for ideas later on. Anyway, let me know what you think!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. Hiro Mashima does. This story was made for fun, and not for cash. (How unfortunate.)**

* * *

Sting had managed to jump a few feet away from Erza's sword to keep it from stabbing him in the face, but she used these few seconds to aim at his chest area instead. She charged at Sting with great speeds, and Erza sent her sword tearing straight through Sting's cream shirt above his chest, and he screamed in pain when the sword had stabbed him in the chest.

"What's wrong with you, Erza? What the heck is your problem?" Lucy asked, as she looked alarmed at the sight of Sting falling down and bleeding. Lucy ran over to his side, and put her right arm over his left shoulder to help him stand up. She glared at Erza, who simply narrowed her eyes sternly at Lucy.

"He's from Sabertooth, Lucy! You know that we're not on good terms with people from that guild, after what Minerva did to you in the Naval Battle! You don't remember hearing how that bastard laughed at you getting tortured? Well, this is just retribution for that. Now get out of the way." Erza replied harshly, as she pointed her sword at Lucy.

Lucy clutched the pink book tightly in her left arm, and she could only wish that she could help Sting right now. That wound was pretty deep, and she could hear the white dragon slayer coughing up blood while he was struggling to stand. Lucy had wanted to become stronger, but how could she do that if she couldn't protect her new friend?

She had left her keys at home for the past two days, to study the pink book, and Lucy was hoping that it would answer to her desires to protect Sting. He had cared for her enough to save her from a greedy scammer who was hiding out in the badlands, and Lucy wanted to do something for him to call it even. She closed her eyes, and began to concentrate her feelings into the pink book. She could think of beating the crap out of Erza, and she didn't want to be helpless anymore.

"_All right, pink book! Answer my feelings, and hear the thoughts I'm sending to you! Help me save Sting, and please make Erza see that I am far from weak!" _Lucy thought to herself with a look of confidence on her face and determination in her eyes.

The pink book suddenly began to emit a large pink glow once again, and Lucy noticed that the third and fourth spells of Heavenly Body Magic had revealed themselves to her. Lucy noticed that Sting was turning pale from his blood loss, and time was one thing she couldn't afford to lose.

"I call upon thee, the third spell, Heavenly Healing! I also call upon thee, the fourth spell, Heavenly God!" Lucy shouted with strong feelings of determination, as she narrowed her brown eyes at Erza.

The third spell caused a pink aura to surround Lucy's body, and since she had her right hand on Sting's shoulder, he would most likely feel the spell's effect. In an instant, Sting lifted his head up and his chest wound had disappeared like it never happened. He felt lots of blood running through his veins again, and Sting could only smile at Lucy for being the one to save his life this time.

The fourth spell engendered the seven clouds in the clear blue sky to turn pink, and they unleashed a copious amount of pink beams! The pink beams of Heavenly Body Magic left the clouds in a curved trajectory to strike Erza, who was down below. Her natural instincts immediately kicked in, causing her to change into her Adamantine Armor for a strong defense.

However, the pink beams came down simultaneously and pierced through the Adamantine Armor with such great force, that they were met with little resistance. Erza's armor shattered into pieces and fell around her, a few seconds before one last pink beam emerged from the clouds and created a pink explosion that was much larger than Heavenly Blast.

Sting, Lucy, Levy, Gajeel, Lily, Wendy, Carla, Juvia, Gray, Natsu, Happy, Lisanna, Mira, Elfman, Cana, and Laxus could only drop their jaws and widen their eyes in amazement at the large, but controlled explosion. It didn't damage the guild in the slightest, but it did leave Erza lying facedown in a wide-ranging crater with her clothes turning back to her Heart Kreuz Armor.

The black smoke lingered for a while, and everyone could only stare in silence as it began to clear up little by little. Some people were wondering if Erza had survived, but others were curious as to how Lucy learned such a powerful spell.

"Lucy, that was so romantic how you were so determined to save your boyfriend!" Happy said in a teasing tone while flying to her and landing on top of her head. His comment made Lucy blush deep red, and her heart began to beat slowly. Sting also blushed at the word "boyfriend", and quickly turned his head to the side.

"Happy, he's not my boyfriend! Sting is just a good friend! After all, he helped me out with the mission earlier today! It's only thanks to our teamwork that we got it done!" Lucy explained while looking somewhat flustered, as the cherry red blush remained on her face.

"Teamwork is just another way of saying you two have chemistry." The Exceed joked, as he continued to laugh.

"Look here, you stupid cat! We're just friends! If Lucy doesn't want to escalate from that, then I won't make her feel uncomfortable. Besides, it's only thanks to her that we even found the robber. She might be dead, but that's karma." Sting replied in a serious tone, as he glared at Happy.

"What kind of guy gets satisfaction from a girl being dead, even if she is a criminal?" Natsu asked sternly while glaring at Sting.

The white dragon slayer shot back with his own question while narrowing his blue eyes and glaring at Natsu, "What kind of guy doesn't get satisfied with what he has, and throws it out so quick when something new arrives? Ever learn the word 'valuable', Salamander? Oh, well. You wouldn't know the value of something, anyway."

Sting walked out of the guild while hearing a large "Oooh" behind him, after everyone heard his response to Natsu's question. He proceeded to take the path leading into the town of Magnolia to reach the train station, but he stopped for a moment at the sound of footsteps behind him. Sting turned around to see Lucy looking concerned about the injury from earlier, causing Sting to have a small smile on his face.

"Relax, Lucy. You healed my wound, and I definitely owe you one for that. You should take good care of that book, and you look pretty cute." Sting said nicely, before turning away when he heard the last four words that had emerged from his mouth. Happy's joking around really made him unfocused, it seems.

"Thank you, Sting, and just ignore the people in Team Natsu. You may be in Sabertooth, but you're still my friend. See you tomorrow!" She replied with a smile on her face, taking a separate path back to her apartment.

Lucy knew that Sting was just a friend to her, and she had only met him yesterday. Besides, she still felt like time was needed for her to get over Natsu and his cheating ways. After all, getting out of one relationship and trying to jump back into the dating game wouldn't bring Lucy true happiness. Sting would probably see that as a desperate move, and he may not be looking for a relationship right now.

As for Sting, he didn't know why Lucy drifted in and out of his thoughts while he made his way to the train station to catch the last train to Castelia Town, where Sabertooth was located. Magnolia and Castelia were both port towns, but Sting preferred to endure torture on a train than on a boat. While he sped up his pace and ran to catch the train, he couldn't stop thinking about the adjective he used to describe Lucy. He had called her "cute." Well, she was a pretty cute girl. She dressed well, too. In fact, Sting had to keep resisting the urge to look down at the under-inside portion of her breasts. He knew one thing for sure, though. Today was hectic.

* * *

**-One month timeskip-**

Sting and Lucy had gone on jobs together for a while now, but they had stopped showing up at the guild together for two reasons. Erza had survived Lucy's fourth spell on the first day she worked with Sting, and Erza had threatened Lucy to not show up with him or she would be expelled from Fairy Tail.

Lucy really wanted to beat the crap out of Erza for that promise that she would obviously keep, but she also knew that she had enough drama from Natsu. Getting involved with both of them would be way too stressful, and Lucy did not like being stressed out. She wanted to move on to her future, and forget the past.

Sting's reason was that he didn't want to have to keep talking sense into the utterly dense Natsu, and he was also pretty cautious about the members of Fairy Tail possibly ambushing and attacking him if he did show up to the guild.

They had been training in the badlands for a month now, and Lucy's physical and magical strength had grown. She could keep up with Sting in a long race to and all the way back from the badlands, she could hold a boulder above her head for a good 50 minutes, and she could spar with Sting afterwards while hardly feeling tired.

Also, she had learned four new spells of Heavenly Body Magic. The fifth spell made a pink beam emerge from Lucy's right hand to attack an opponent and also transfer their strength to Lucy. The sixth spell made Lucy obtain a pink whip that exploded on contact with the target, the seventh spell made a large pink shield that was heart-shaped appear in front of Lucy, and it could reflect long-range attacks and projectiles with exponential damage being dealt. The eighth and final spell made four pink beams come from north, south, east, and west to immobilize the target while a much larger pink beam descended from the sky to cause damage far greater than the sword named Archenemy wielded by Kagura Mikazuchi when it was unsheathed.

Today, Sting had Lucy meet him at a fast-food restaurant in Magnolia known as WcDonalds to discuss something important with her. He had asked her to bring the pink book with her, too. Hopefully, they weren't going to fight over their food or end up spilling soda everywhere to practice Water Magic.

Lucy wore a pink blouse with a scarlet red neckline and trim, which was complimented by a red miniskirt. She also wore some ruby red boots to match. After all, she found it important to look her best for meetings of every kind. She had her blonde hair down, and Sting's jaw nearly dropped when Lucy sat across from him at the table.

"You look nice as always, Lucy. That's one of the things I like about us working together, and I bought us some food. You'll be the first girl to say that the great Sting Eucliffe treated you to a meal." Sting told her with a cocky smirk on his face while giving her a thumbs-up.

Lucy replied nicely to him, as she giggled at his arrogance and removed the wrapper from the cheeseburger on her tray, "You're always so confident about things, you know. I like how you stay calm and positive in most situations."

"It's never good to freak out, or you won't be able to focus and succeed. Jiemma, the guild master of Sabertooth, and Minerva's father, tells this to the people who fail on jobs before calling them trash." He said with his mouth full, after eating some salty French fries.

"I'll keep that in mind, Sting. Why did you call me here, anyway?" Lucy asked him curiously while looking puzzled. Was this just a meeting, or was this just Sting's way of setting up a date while being in his usual attire? He obviously had something to say to her, or he wouldn't have called her out here and given her the day off from training.

Not knowing how to announce this without Lucy getting excited in some way would be tough, and Sting looked somewhat deep in thought while taking a breath before he spoke.

"We won't train in the badlands anymore, starting tomorrow. I heard that books needing spells to be unlocked would reach their full potential not only with the book master's will, but also in the respective environment. I want to see what you can do with Darkness Magic, so we'll be training in a castle that's in Zekreshi Town from now on." He explained calmly while biting into his burger, and chewing loudly.

"You can't be serious, Sting! I've seen castles in horror movies, and they're usually filled with ghosts! Please don't make me go there! I'll scream, and I'll cry, and I might even run all the way back to Magnolia! It might be super dark, too!" Lucy pleaded while her body trembled, her fear obviously revealing itself to Sting.

She immediately got up from the table, and decided to leave WcDonalds to go activate a different kind of Magic. However, Sting gently grabbed her hand and watched her slowly turn around to face him. Lucy was about to yell in his face, but then something unexpected happened. Sting pulled her into a soft hug, causing Lucy to feel his warmth and his strong sense of trust.

"If it gets dark, I'll be your light. You won't have to be alone in there and worry, Lucy. I'll be there for you every night, and I'll keep you safe." Sting softly whispered into her ear while they continued to hug, and he put his arms around her waist.

Lucy could only feel her fear slowly dying down, as her body stopped trembling and her cheeks blushed a light shade of pink while she was returning the hug to Sting. She felt safe and warm with him right now, and Lucy left out a soft and happy sigh while looking into his enchanting blue eyes.

* * *

**How was Chapter 4? Well, it looks like Lucy and Sting are slowly building their chemistry. The timeskip was made to expedite past last month because of important parts in relationships known as flashbacks and dreams! Criticism and good reviews are greatly appreciated for the next chapter, and for ideas later on. Anyway, let me know your thoughts on today's update!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. Hiro Mashima does. This story was made for fun, and not for cash. (How unfortunate.)**

* * *

Lucy went over to the request board to pick a job for the night, before going to train with Sting, but there weren't any jobs in Zekreshi Town. She liked convenience of using a well-paying job as training, but it appeared that no one in Zekreshi needed any help.

She looked disappointed about this, and Lucy walked over to the bar with a sad facial expression. Seeing Mira wouldn't be too troublesome, but if she mentioned Natsu and Lisanna, then Lucy wouldn't know what to say. She didn't exactly have a boyfriend, and remembering that Lisanna replaced her was still causing her a mild amount of pain.

"Hi, Mira. I'll have my usual sugary tea, please." Lucy told the barmaid while resting her head down on the table and sighing in a depressed manner.

"Coming right up, Lucy! You've been alone for weeks now, and I know what you need to get over Natsu! You need a boyfriend!" Mira replied happily, as she had only noticed Lucy because Lisanna was out on a job again with Team Natsu.

Lucy didn't want to move fast like that after only a month because she knew that if she did then she wouldn't truly be happy. If a couple had nothing but love, they would eventually get bored of it and things would come crashing down in the end. Starting a new relationship after only a month would be more like revenge, and not mostly romance. Lucy wanted to take things at a slow pace, and time would eventually send a decent guy her way.

"Not right now, Mira. I'll just keep to myself, and wait for life to work things out. There's no need for me to rush, you know. I just have to take things one step at a time." Lucy replied calmly, as Mira handed her the cup of sugary tea, and she began to drink from the cup.

Looking back at the request board for a moment, Lucy's brown eyes noticed a job needing to be done in Castelia Town. She blinked her eyes twice to make sure she wasn't seeing things, and she blushed slightly when she realized her eyes weren't playing tricks on her. That's the town close to where the Sabertooth guild and Sting Eucliffe could be found.

Still, it was kind of late at night. Would Sting be ok with Lucy going all the way across the sea to visit him, instead of asking if he was ready to go to the castle like he planned? The job could be good for both of them, though. Sting and Lucy had never really gotten to have a normal talk to know each other, and what's a better way than finding a place that's comfortable for both of them?

Lucy finished drinking her tea, and she got up from the barstool she sat on to check her appearance in the reflection of a nearby glass window. She was wearing a simple violet shirt and a lavender miniskirt to match. Her hair was in a side ponytail on the right side, and a purple bow was on the other side of her head.

She walked over to the request board to examine the flyer mentioning the job needing to be done in Castelia Town, sitting at the bottom-left corner of the request board by itself. Lucy unpinned the piece of paper from the board, and began to read the request.

Apparently, the client needed a skilled Mage to put an end to some people that were causing trouble in the city. None of the Mages residing in Castelia could do the job, and the client was now asking for help from a guild that was all the way across the sea. Lucy smiled confidently, knowing that Sting could greatly assist her with this job, and she ran out of the guild while giggling a little.

"_By the way she's acting, Mr. Right-For-Her must be in that town. Since there's no one else here, I might as well have a little fun."_ Mira thought to herself while smiling, after she cleaned the last beer mug and proceeded to turn off the light in the guildhall before leaving.

* * *

Since the trains were inactive at this time of night, Lucy ran down to Magnolia's Harbor as fast as she could and smelled the salty air while getting on to the cruise ship that always headed to Castelia at 9:00 at night. Unknown to Lucy or the sailors, the blonde female had been followed closely by a white cat that was tailing her from behind.

Lucy was directed to one of the rooms at the end of the hallway, and she walked down the blue carpet while admiring the walls that had been painted sapphire blue like the sea. She had received a cobalt card key, and Lucy's brown eyes twinkled while admiring how clean and shiny the room was when she got inside.

She pulled out the pink book from her brown purse, but there was something odd about it. For some reason, the color had changed from pink to purple. Could the spell book be responding to the time, since it was no longer daytime? Lucy's eyes widened in amazement, when she turned to the pages where the spells were written in purple. All eight of them were written, like the ones for Heavenly Body Magic. It was clear that whoever made this book had put a synchronization spell on it, or the purple-colored text wouldn't have been written without Lucy learning the spells.

Looking out the window while holding the purple book in her right hand, Lucy closed her eyes and took a deep breath. What would come out of this first spell of Darkness Magic? She concentrated on her emotions, and built them up inside her. The feeling of being cheated on by Natsu was still lingering around in her heart, and Lucy growled softly while clenching her teeth and her left fist.

"I call upon thee, the first spell, Darkness Acceleration!" Lucy shouted fiercely while the book began to emit a purple glow.

In an instant, Lucy felt herself begin to move at extremely rapid speeds around the room and she thought of using this spell to create a tornado of wind to restrict an opponent's movement if it was necessary. This high acceleration would do well in assisting physical attacks, too.

She had tried using the other spells, but they wouldn't work for some reason. It was most likely that the spells were readable, but not ready for use yet. Aside from that letdown, Lucy was happy that she would get to see Sting.

* * *

**45 minutes later…**

The ship had docked in the Castelia Harbor, and Lucy quickly disembarked. She stepped onto the dock, and looked at the tall skyscrapers behind her. Many people wearing business suits and carrying briefcases passed her by without saying a word, prompting Lucy to wonder if Sting actually did live here.

A wooden sign nearby told Lucy that this was known as Prime Pier, one of the four ocean piers in the town of Castelia. Lucy made her way from Prime Pier to the Oceanfront Road, where she noticed a crowd of people circled around something interesting that was going on.

Lucy pushed her way past a few businessmen to see Sting trading blows with a woman who was wielding a wakizashi. She wore a black skin-tight jumpsuit, and pink armor plates that appeared to be made of a metal that was strong like steel.

"You'll never stop me from destroying this city, you cute dragon slayer." The woman told Sting in a flirtatious tone with a smirk on her face, before charging at him with her sword.

Sting was about to reply, but then his opponent suddenly lost her ability to move. Upon seeing a purple glow coming from a book, Sting knew that Lucy had come all the way here to do a job. Truth be told, he fixed his hair because he thought she came here for him.

Lucy didn't know why she felt envious of the swordswoman calling Sting "cute", but she wouldn't let her emotions go to waste. Narrowing her brown eyes, Lucy put all of her emotions into the second spell and hoped that something would come out.

"I call upon thee, the second spell, Darkness Warp Bomb!" Lucy shouted in a confident tone while smiling at Sting.

A purple sphere surrounded the woman wielding the sword, and she became trapped inside of it. Lucy sent the sphere of Darkness Magic high into the sky, where it exploded and released a thick cloud of purple smoke. Everyone covered their eyes and coughed for a few minutes, giving an embarrassed Lucy the chance to escape.

Her heart was beating wildly, as she had ran down to Prime Pier and stopped to pant and catch her breath. Had she truly felt jealous now because a criminal thought Sting was cute? Lucy put her hands over her eyes, and fell to her knees while crying softly. She had humiliated herself in front of Sting by going into overprotective mode, and she should've just let him handle it.

While she let tears go down her face, Lucy felt someone pat her shoulders gently. She slowly turned around to see Sting standing behind her, and he didn't look embarrassed that a girl stepped in to help him take down a criminal.

"Don't cry, Lucy. You have no reason to be upset because you just stepped in to save me. You sure acted like we were a couple, though. Hands off your man, huh?" Sting told her with a smile while chuckling a little.

"You've been there for me a lot, so I felt like I needed to be there for you. Sting, you saved me from loneliness. Not that you filled the void Natsu created in my heart, but you've been a good friend to me." Lucy told him while wiping away her tears and looking into Sting's eyes.

Something about his blue eyes was so appealing to Lucy. They were like a beautiful blue sea, and she felt like they were entrancing to her. She blushed a light shade of pink, and Lucy's heart palpitated wildly when she rested her head on Sting's shoulder.

He ran his fingers through her hair for a few seconds, his nose taking in the scent of her strawberry vanilla shampoo. Sting sniffed her for a few more minutes, and he smiled while looking into her eyes that were brown like delicious chocolate.

Before he could reply, the ship's horn blew and Sting quickly shouted curses that the ship's horn overshadowed. Lucy needed to get back to her apartment in Magnolia, and he was about to apologize for his blue eyes mesmerizing her like they did.

However, she grabbed his hand and giggled while using the Darkness Acceleration spell once more. Lucy found herself able to run on water at tremendous speeds, and she even passed the ship in a few seconds. She made it back to the harbor of Magnolia, and Lucy cheered happily.

* * *

"Sting, we're back in Magnolia!" She told him while proceeding to turn around and hug him.

Sadly, Sting looked a little bit miffed at the fact that she pulled him across the water and his clothes were completely soaked. Lucy gasped with concern when she saw him, only to close her mouth and blush more when the white dragon slayer did something unexpected again.

Sting took off his cream shirt, his brown coat, his pants, and his shoes, which only left him wearing his white boxers. Lucy's face became extremely red from seeing Sting like this, and she tried her best to not open her eyes and be distracted by his awesome physique.

"You're the one who got me wet, so why are you not giving out any complaints about me not keeping up with you and your extreme speed?" Sting asked curiously while raising an eyebrow at Lucy, who turned away from him.

"I just… feel bad about getting you wet, that's all." Lucy replied while she still blushed, to hide the fact that she couldn't say that just looking at Sting would make her melt right now.

Then, she sighed and began to remove her purple shirt and her lavender skirt right before Sting's eyes. His jaw nearly dropped when he saw her body, as she turned around to face him. With both of them half-naked like this, people could assume they came from a hot spring or finished their night at the beach.

Sting looked at her from head to toe, as he saw her in her lacy white bra and lacy white panties. He glanced at the areas they covered for only a few minutes and a light pink blush found its way on his face when he felt his five-second fantasy of Lucy stripping entirely make its way down to his member and get it erect.

"You just look… Wow." He told her while his gaze quickly moved from the bra covering her large breasts to her face. He mentally slapped himself, before thinking he'd actually get slapped hard in the face.

Instead of a slap, Sting felt Lucy hold his hand and she giggled at him while picking up her clothes. Sting picked up his clothes as well, and he walked back with Lucy to the apartment where she stayed. The night air was hot in the summertime, and they both felt just right.

Lucy's heart began to palpitate quickly once more, and she blushed bright pink again. I mean, it was weird to walk home with half of her clothes on, but with Sting next to her in only his boxers she worried about being seen or being assaulted by a perverted robber.

Sting noticed her uneasiness and assured her with a smile while they were walking to Lucy's apartment, "Relax, Lucy. Remember what I told you yesterday? When it gets dark, I'll be your light. I wasn't talking about just the night and dark places. I'll always be there when you least expect it, too."

A cheerful smile found its way on to Lucy's face and she giggled happily while she still held Sting's hand and put her head on his left shoulder. It was almost like they were walking home from a date, and Sting was also blushing like Lucy was.

As they turned the corner to finally reach Lucy's apartment, Lucy quickly went back behind the corner when she saw Natsu and Lisanna walking together like they had just came from a date. Lucy's body began to shake, and she was nervous.

What would Natsu tell the guild, if he saw her and Sting walking to her apartment half-naked? Everyone would think she had been seeing him, and Erza would kick Lucy out of Fairy Tail. She couldn't stand the thought of being kicked out of the guild she loved, and Lucy was close to tears.

Seeing her close to crying and from seeing why she was so scared right now, Sting waited for the perfect moment when Natsu and Lisanna looked at each other while they walked to wherever and he used these few seconds to sneak Lucy around the corner with him.

"That was way too close, Sting. I seriously owe you now." Lucy told him with a smile, as she let out a sigh of relief before getting the key from her bra and turning it in the lock to open the door. She got Sting inside, and quickly locked the door before covering the windows with her curtains.

"I hope you know if you hadn't wet my clothes, then this wouldn't have happened. You have to admit that you like it a little, though. Look, we can just use jobs as training. I wouldn't be surprised if that white-haired chick had seen us, and decided to blurt it out to Natsu when they turned that corner." Sting explained while sighing and sitting down on Lucy's couch.

Lucy went straight to sleep, and she could only hope that her days at Fairy Tail would not be over in the morning. Did small feelings really come at the price of losing something big? Could Lucy ever find true happiness, or would she be humiliated down in sadness forever? Could she please her own heart, but have to lose everything else in the process?

She could only imagine Natsu and Lisanna describing to the guild in detail how they saw Lucy with Sting, and they'd probably twist the facts to be extremely convincing so Lucy's side of the story could never be believable. Lucy could only hear Sting making himself comfortable on the couch, and she had to wonder if he was the one who could heal her pain.

* * *

**How was Chapter 5? Pretty interesting night, huh? Well, the flashback/dream wasn't appropriate for this chapter, but the next chapter will sure be filled with action! Will Lucy's dreams of happiness fall? Will Lisanna have anything to tell all? Did Mira lose Lucy's trail? Stick around for the next update!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. Hiro Mashima does. This story was made for fun, and not for cash. (How unfortunate.)**

* * *

The next morning, Lucy had woken up to the sound of her alarm clock ringing on the desk near her bed and she shut it off. Lucy tried her best to forget last night, since Lisanna and Natsu would probably tell everyone about what they saw. If she acted like she didn't know what they were talking about, wouldn't they look like idiots? She sighed depressingly, and went to go start her day off with a warm bath.

This past month had been difficult, seeing as Lucy still found it hard to see Lisanna replacing her in Team Natsu. Not only that, but she had witnessed them kissing sometimes and that had always emotionally stabbed her in the heart. Lingering feelings were certainly a challenge to overcome, and closing off her heart was a risky option. She could only look disappointed while removing her bra and panties, before turning on the hot water.

Before she could step into the tub, Sting opened the door and immediately dropped his jaw. Lucy screamed at Sting, before looking awkward with her face turning deep red. She quickly covered her breasts with one arm, and jumped into the bathtub for some safety.

"Oh, man! Lucy, I just wanted to say good morning! I didn't see you in bed, so I wanted to check and hope you hadn't gone off somewhere dangerous without me there to support you!" Sting explained frantically with an embarrassed facial expression, while blushing and keeping his eyes closed, as he needed all of his willpower to resist the tempting urge to open them and restore his ability to see.

Lucy still blushed intensely, and she couldn't even calm down in the hot water. A guy had never seen her naked, and Lucy could only still scream while being embarrassed. She wanted to say something to Sting for barging in like this, but all of her negative thoughts about Natsu and Lisanna came out in the form of troubling screams.

Sting seemed slightly annoyed at Lucy's strident screams, and he had to think of something to make her be quelled down. Without thinking, he removed his white boxer shorts and got into the bathtub with Lucy. He pressed his lips against hers gently, and Lucy stopped screaming and her brown eyes widened. A light shade of blush found its way on to her face, and she began to smile.

"Sting, you keep on saving me. I love you." She whispered softly while her brown eyes twinkled.

"I love you too, Lucy." He replied, before allowing her to rest her head against his chest.

* * *

**In reality…**

"Lucy, did you just see what I want you do?" Rogue asked in a calm tone, before vanishing in a puff of smoke and Sting reappearing in his place.

Aside from the drama Team Natsu might cause, Sting wanted Lucy to learn two new types of Magic today. Transformation Magic and Clone Magic could prove to be useful, and offensive, defensive, and assisting spells weren't everything. Sting had perfectly transformed into Rogue, and now he wanted Lucy to try a transformation. (I know Sting can't canonically do that, but just go along with it.)

They stood on the sidewalk in front of Lucy's apartment, and she had to have a clear mental image of the person she wanted to transform into. One slight deformity could give her away, and Lucy wanted to be able to take jobs in Fairy Tail while also avoiding potential drama. Closing her brown eyes and quietly focusing her mind on the transformation, Lucy made her middle and index fingers cross at a right angle and she built up some magical power.

In an instant, Lucy transformed into a young, attractive woman around the same age as Erza with long black hair that fell to her hips and violet eyes. Her outfit consisted of a short black skirt with a small, light purple shirt on top. Lucy's cleavage became ample and large like Cana's, and she wore a black lacy bra and black lacy panties under her clothes. She also wore some purple high heels, too.

Sting looked greatly impressed at Lucy doing a perfect transformation on her first attempt, and he also noticed that her Fairy Tail mark vanished as well. Pretty smart, wouldn't you agree? Lucy turned 360 degrees around, and Sting could only smirk at how sexy she looked in this transformation.

"Nice job, Lucy! Now all you have to do is act like a new member wanting to join Fairy Tail, and just take the best job you can find for us! I am glad for teaching you this technique!" Sting told her while looking arrogant as always, and giving her a thumbs-up.

"What if Master, Erza, or anyone else asks me where I came from? What if Natsu or Gajeel detects a defect in my scent?" Lucy asked in a concerned tone while looking at Sting, and having her legs shake a little.

Sting took a deep sniff of Lucy, and discovered that she smelled like blue raspberry air freshener. He knew that a person's smell changed if they focused hard on that particular smell while envisioning the transformation, and he knew that she had nothing to worry about.

Lucy's now violet eyes had a relaxed look in them, and she handed her spell book to Sting before running off to the guild in search of a new job. He kept grinning at the fact that this worked on the first attempt for Lucy, and he was busy thinking about this successful lesson, as the book began to glow in a multitude of colors. Could the spells be transforming, along with their female book master?

* * *

**At the guild…**

Lucy thought to herself, as she looked nervous while standing in front of Fairy Tail's entrance doors with her body trembling somewhat, _"I really hope this works, Sting. I want to become a new, stronger person that I can be proud of. I want to be someone I can like, honestly. Someone with confidence, intelligence, reliability, mature, smart, and exceptional." _

Summoning up as much courage as she could, Lucy let out a breath of air and opened the front doors to the Fairy Tail guild. She saw the members being rowdy and wild as always, and she nearly screamed when a barrel came her way. As Lucy dodged it, she noticed her voice had become more sultry and mature to match her appearance. Clearly, this transformation was good.

"Hey, who are you?" Levy asked calmly, prompting everyone to stop fighting and be frozen in their spot for a few minutes while looking at the new person.

Lucy's heart beat slowly for a few seconds, and she seemed a little nervous with everyone having their eyes on her. Normally, they would ignore Lucy. However, this new transformation made everyone interested to know this unknown person.

"I'm… Reināre Katsura. I'm from Sekichiku Town… and it's nice to meet you!" Lucy said while looking nervous and trying her best to have even a small smile on her face. She anticipated that everyone would be suspicious of a new member joining the guild, and instead she received a shocking reaction.

"Hi, new girl! I'm Natsu Dragneel, the fire dragon slayer! Welcome to Fairy Tail! It's always good to have a new friend to fight with!" He told her with his usual happy grin on his face, before displaying a fireball engulfing his right hand for Reināre to see.

What happened next would surprise everyone. Reināre waved her left hand to say hello, and a purple ball of gravitational energy emerged from it! The ball hit Natsu in the chest, and his body began to be surrounded by a purple aura. Reināre stretched out her arms and put her hands in front of her chest while waving them, to only cause more gravity balls to shoot from her hands and strike Natsu. He cockily looked at her, and ran towards her with the flame on his right hand.

"The ninth spell, Pulsating Gravity Wave!" Reināre shouted fiercely while still having her arms stretched out in front of her with her hands juxtaposing each other. She unleashed a purple crescent-shaped energy wave from her hands, and its size was big enough to stop Natsu in his tracks. It hit him quickly with tremendous force, and it sent him crashing into the bar. A purple blast occurred immediately from the attack, and the Fairy Tail mages covered their eyes.

The violet light from the purple blast, combined with everyone having their eyes closed, provided the perfect distraction for Lucy a.k.a. Reināre to get the guild mark color kit and stamp from the bar counter near Mira. She lifted up her shirt and put the Fairy Tail guild mark in the color of purple on her left waist. Afterwards, she quickly took a job from the request board and stamped it before running out the front doors as the violet light and purple smoke began to fade away.

"What the heck was that?" Gray asked with a surprised facial expression while looking around.

"That girl's got skills, I'll say that." Cana said while smiling at the sight of Natsu lying on his face with a large bump on his head.

"That's the power of a real man!" Elfman added while smirking, as Lisanna looked concerned for Natsu and rushed to his aid.

The bar, along with several tables and chairs, had been damaged and Erza looked annoyed at the fact that she had to fix all the damage with her many weapons.

Lucy thought with an amazed look on her face while she ran back to her apartment where Sting was waiting, _"Whoa! That was some major power! I haven't even learned the ninth spell, but I sure seemed to know it! This transformation may not be so bad, after all!"_

* * *

She saw Sting standing in the same spot looking directly into the sun with his mouth open, as if he was eating the sunlight. He saw her running towards him, and he smiled when Lucy stopped and panted heavily. She was out of breath, but the book suddenly turned emerald green with its viridescent glow and her lungs became restored with oxygen when she slightly inhaled air.

"Well, that gives me two questions. How did it go, and how the heck did the book change color and ability like that?" Sting asked curiously, having never seen such a thing take place right before his eyes.

"Everyone totally thought I was a new person, and I even taught Natsu a lesson by accident. I didn't even unlock the spells, but they somehow worked. I'll call the 8th spell, Gravity Chain Ball. I kept throwing them in succession, and my ninth spell was totally strengthened! As for the book, maybe it responds to my personal growth." Lucy explained while smiling happily, and taking the book from Sting.

The white dragon slayer took the flyer from Lucy, and this request needed someone to get rid of a guy who was causing trouble in the botanical gardens with his Plant Magic. This person had a very high bounty on his head if he should be captured, and Sting was glad that Lucy picked this job. He gave her a friendly hug, causing her to blush and feel a strange sensation. Lucy sighed happily, and hugged back.

The job also informed the mages that it took place in Tokiwa Town, which could only be accessed by crossing the sea. With all the boats in Magnolia's harbor out at sea right now, going across the sea would be difficult. On top of that, Lucy's Dark Acceleration might only be useful in calm waters. Who knows if she wouldn't drown, upon tripping on choppy waves in rougher waters?

"Since the sailors are out right now, and we're on land, do you want to go to a new café that opened up in Magnolia? I've been meaning to go, but I only see couples and duos walking in together. I mean, do you want to go with me as a friend?" Sting asked while blushing and looking somewhat embarrassed that he was flustered around Lucy.

Lucy replied happily while giggling in her now sultry voice as Reināre and feeling warmth in her heart, "I've seen it around for a few days, and I've also wanted to go. I'd be happy to accompany you there, Sting!"

Sting looked satisfied and he unknowingly held Lucy's hand while they made their way to the café. She blushed once more, and let her head rest gently on his right shoulder while they were walking.

"_I'm really into helping Lucy become stronger, and do her best. She's totally committed to training with me, and I want to be 100% committed to her. Wait, totally committed? Did I just think that?" _Sting thought with a smile when he realized he was holding Lucy's hand.

* * *

**At the café…**

Sting and Lucy gasped in awe at the elegant red carpet with the brown walls to match. Pictures of coffee drinks and cakes were hung on the walls, and Sting led Lucy to a square table that was close to the red counter. He pulled out her chair for her, prompting Lucy to run her hands through her transformed black hair and smile at Sting.

"I'll get us some cake and drinks, ok?" Lucy told Sting in a happy tone, as she went up to the counter with at least 1,500 jewels.

"Welcome to Café Sonata! What would you and your date like today?" The cashier asked kindly with a smile while she somewhat resembled Levy, and was possibly a year younger.

Lucy blushed when the cashier used the word "date" to describe Sting because they weren't actually dating. However, maybe they had enough chemistry to become dating partners and something more. Ignoring her thoughts, Lucy placed an order.

"I'll have two mochaccinos with your special of Butterscotch Caramel Chocolate Cheesecake, please." Lucy told the girl with a smile on her face while handing her the 15 bills of 100 jewels that totaled up to 1,500 jewels to match the price of her order.

The girl responded happily while she totaled up the price that matched 1,500 jewels and took the money from Lucy, "Wow, you want the cake for couples? That's totally romantic! Let's just say that people who eat that cake together end up being really happy."

In 5 minutes, thanks to the chefs for knowing Culinary Magic, the Butterscotch Caramel Chocolate Cheesecake was ready along with the mochaccinos that had been topped with whip cream. Lucy said with a grin as she caught a glimpse of the cashier's nametag, before taking her order to the nearby table where Sting was waiting, "I'll see you later, Lily."

Lucy sat across from Sting, who smiled when he took a sip of his mochaccino. The chocolate taste in the hot coffee, combined with the whip cream, made his tongue pleased to taste something so satisfying. He knew Lucy had good taste, and he was glad that he let her choose the order.

"I have to admit, this was a pretty good morning. Next month, we can learn the Cloning Technique. After all, this is the week where we have to see how much you made for you to pay your rent." Sting said with a smile on his face, as he cut a slice of cake and ate it off his plate.

Lucy cut a slice of cake for herself and placed it on the red plate in front of her. She drank some of her mochaccino, and then proceeded to taste the chocolate and caramel layers of the cheesecake with her spoon, before enjoying the rich creamy butterscotch harmonizing with them.

This was almost like a date between Sting and Lucy, despite the latter being transformed into Reināre at the time. They knew that they needed to get to know each other, and Lucy made the brave move of starting it off with her question.

"How did you end up in Sabertooth, Sting?" Lucy asked curiously while she kept eating her cake and drinking more of her coffee.

"It's located near Castelia, but I wanted to move to Nimbasa Town seven years ago. The guild is close to Nimbasa, providing me with jobs and an entertaining place to be. It's got an amusement park, which is probably the only place where I won't get motion sickness." He replied nicely, before taking a second slice of cake from the plate it was on.

"If we make enough money, we can buy a house there. Nimbasa Town sounds like an exciting place to be."

Before Sting could continue, as Lucy obtained another slice of cake, he saw Natsu walk in with Lisanna. He pointed at them fast enough for Lucy to turn her head and see them, prompting her to think quickly so that Lisanna wouldn't see Sting here and assume that the girl was Lucy a.k.a. Reināre.

While Lucy ate most of the butterscotch and cheesecake-flavored half of the cake, Sting had tasted more of the chocolate and caramel-flavored half. Ignoring their unexpected company, Lucy blushed while giggling a little and cut a slice from Sting's half. Her mouth felt the four flavors of both halves merging together to create a wonderful sensation, and Lucy wanted to share her half with Sting.

Her heart was beating wildly with the taste of the wonderful cake, delicious coffee, and Sting being able to share this experience with her. Lucy got up, and she was about to tell Sting that these little feelings fluttered around her mind, mostly since last night, but how would he react? Would he say that he liked her, too?

"Well, we should go do some shopping. The journey to Tokiwa Town may take a few days by boat, so that gives us more time together." Sting said to Lucy while smirking and proceeding to walk past her.

"_This is it. No more holding back. I like Sting, and I admire him. These feelings may be small, but I need to know if he would like me someday." _Lucy thought while clenching her fists and looking determined about what she was going to do.

As she moved to stop Sting to tell him, Lucy tripped over her left foot and made Sting fall backwards. He stopped himself from falling with one hand, and he caught Lucy by the waist with the other. However, Sting's eyes widened in amazement when he saw what Lucy had used to break her fall.

Her lips had made contact with his, and her eyes were closed in slight fear of falling. However, she opened her eyes to see that she had nothing to fear. Sting had saved her, but could he save her feelings from rejection? Lucy was about to scream like in her dream, but something in her heart made her fears be effaced. She gave Sting the kiss of gratitude for saving her once again, hoping he would understand.

* * *

**How was Chapter 6? After loads of college work, I can update again! Anyway, Lucy has quite the transformation, but will her transformed feelings of little bliss revert back to depression from possible rejection? Will Lisanna and Team Natsu cross paths with Sting and Lucy in her form as Reināre? Stick around for Chapter 7!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. Hiro Mashima does. This story was made for fun, and not for cash. (How unfortunate.)**

* * *

Lucy, still in her form as Reināre, had pressed her lips against Sting's lips with such gentle ease and wanted to let him know that she had small feelings for him. She had intended to tell him, but I guess fate made her go another way to explain things. The blush on her face was at the median between pink and red, and Lucy knew that people were watching.

After a few more seconds, she got off of Sting and held out her hand to help him stand up. Lucy saw the calm blue look in Sting's eyes, and his lips formed a pleased smile. Had he realized her small feelings, or would he laugh and say that Lucy was a ditzy klutz? Sting told the cashier girl to make another one of those special cakes to go, and he handed her 1,000 jewels. Lucy a.k.a. Reināre used this chance to run out of the café, and she looked somewhat embarrassed.

"_Why did I act like a flirtatious idiot back there? I just wanted to tell him my feelings, and how I liked him! That was the worst move in the history of romance!" _Lucy thought to herself, as she twiddled her thumbs and blushed while looking inside the café.

To make things weirder, Natsu and Lisanna had seen the whole thing. Even if they recognized the guy as Sting, they might think Reināre met up with him by coincidence. After all, Magnolia was the town where many crossroads intersected and various people could meet. Lucy looked worried about what she had done, and she could only wish that she had a spell for reading someone's thoughts.

As the white dragon slayer exited Café Sonata with a large brown bag in his left hand that was containing the cake, he handed the viridian green book to Lucy and she quickly turned away from him. Sting narrowed his blue eyes for a moment, realizing Lucy must be uncomfortable after that accidental kiss and his eyes became calm afterwards for him to say something.

"Look, I know that was somewhat of an accident. I'd tell you to be more careful, but I guess your careless tripping made us both happy. I mean, that was technically my first kiss and my first time kissing a girl's lips. I liked it, Lucy." Sting told her while calmly smiling at her, and attempting to hold her hand to offer her comfort if she wanted it.

Lucy's violet eyes twinkled with slight joy when Sting admitted that he received his first kiss from her, and he liked it. She wanted to jump for joy, but she had calmed herself down enough to respond with a gentle hug while having her head resting against Sting's chest and feeling his rock-hard abdominals.

She whispered happily in her now sultry and mature voice, before putting a finger to Sting's lips, "I really enjoyed it, too. We should go to the market now and pick up some things for the trip to Tokiwa Town, since it takes days to reach by boat."

While Sting and Lucy walked off to the Magnolia Department Store, Natsu and Lisanna came rushing out of the café and looked around frantically.

"What the heck was that new girl doing with Sting from that stupid Sabertooth? She has no right to be hanging with a guy like him, or kissing his nasty lips!" Natsu shouted angrily, as he clenched his teeth while looking frustrated.

"It looked accidental to me. Speaking of accidents, you should've seen your ex the other night. She was half-naked! We should've had a camera! Let's tell everyone about it! Lucy will freak out!" Lisanna told Natsu with a smile while giggling.

"Eh, who needs that weak girl? Did you see where that jerk went?" Natsu asked, still fuming with rage.

* * *

**At the Magnolia Department Store…**

Sting kept putting junk food like cans of Pringles and large bags of Doritos in various flavors, along with bottles of Coca-Cola in the red shopping cart that Lucy was pushing around. She sighed a little, hoping that she could get some fruits or vegetables. Instead, she went along with Sting and bought cookies and brownies.

"Here, Lucy. This is for treating me to that cake back at the café. You deserve it." Sting told her while putting a glazed chocolate donut hole in her mouth, and eating a few more from the plate of free samples. Lucy chewed the treat in her mouth for a few seconds, and her violet eyes twinkled in amazement from the sugary donut hole coupled with its double chocolate flavoring.

"Thank you, Sting! That was delicious! You could've asked me to buy some for you, you know." She replied with a smile on her face while putting a few boxes of normally glazed donut holes and glazed chocolate donut holes in the wide shopping cart.

When they went to one of the cashiers to pay for all their food, his eyes widened in shock and he used his Speed Magic to quickly scan all the items and place them in appropriate shopping bags. You could say that the "15 items or less rule" would now have to be changed to 150 items or less because of Sting's enormous appetite.

Not wanting to carry any heavy shopping bags, even if Sting helped, Lucy opened up the spell book. The book turned yellow for some reason, prompting Lucy to immediately open it. There were many spells in yellow text, and she tried to concentrate while Sting smelled her hair that was black in her disguise as Reināre.

"Let's try out the first spell, Tiny Lightning!" Lucy shouted happily while the words began to shine with a large yellow glow. She aimed her left hand at all the shopping bags, and electric rings began to encircle them. The electricity minimized the bags, the products, and the food in the packages to the point where they looked like crumbs. They suddenly shot up in the air while being surrounded by golden beams of light, and Lucy looked confused.

"Will they come down soon?" Sting asked, looking concerned for all the snacks.

"I'm sure they will, Sting. I know the boats' schedules, and the one going to Tokiwa Town returns to the Magnolia Harbor in ten minutes! Let's go!" Lucy replied calmly while grabbing Sting's hand, and immediately using Dark Acceleration to reach the distanced harbor in time.

* * *

**At the harbor…**

Lucy panted heavily after using Dark Acceleration in its quadrupled speed mode, and Sting had been holding her hand tightly. He was panting as well, and Lucy's high-speed movement nearly made him a little motion sick.

"Next time, don't go at 1,000 miles a minute. I'm sure even doubled speed would've gotten us here without possible major injuries if we crashed. Man, I wish those snacks would come down." Sting complained while sighing and glaring up at the sky.

In an instant, many golden bolts of lightning descended near the spot where they were standing, and their shopping bags filled with their supplies came down from the sky while looking larger than before. Was this God's doing? Were the heavens smiling down upon Sting and Lucy? Whoever wrote that spell in the book would certainly be smiling, from its possible ability of versatility.

"Sting, your wish came true! That may be how the spell works, then!" Lucy responded sweetly while hugging Sting and seeing their supplies safe and sound. The sailors put their bags on to the cruise ship, and their supplies would be taken to the room they had to share.

Lucy and Sting boarded the ship and were directed to a room at the end of the hallway. (This is the same ship from the earlier chapter, except rerouted.) Sting blushed a little, upon seeing only one bed in the room and he looked somewhat hesitant to even touch it.

"What's wrong?" Lucy asked while seeing Sting look uncomfortable at the two-person bed.

"I just think it'll be weird if we.. sleep together. Not that I'd make any moves on you, but.. things could happen." He replied with a freaked out facial expression, as he waved his hands in front of Lucy.

"Nothing will happen, Sting. I'll admit that our kiss was unexpected, but let's just build our chemistry. Besides, you told me that when it gets dark you would be my light. Sting, there's nothing to be worried about. We've been doing jobs together for a whole month now, and I can trust you. You can trust me to be there for you." Lucy told him in a comforting tone while grabbing his hands gently and locking her violet eyes with his blue ones.

Lucy's hands were filled with warmth and joy, and she smiled at Sting while assuring him that there was nothing was fear. Sting had been there for Lucy, and it was only natural for her to return the favor by helping him overcome this dilemma and situation of weakness. He began to calm down, feeling safe with her and wanting to be around her more. He now felt he could sleep with Lucy while only feeling happiness.

* * *

**Two-day timeskip…**

The ship finally docked in Tokiwa Town, a beautiful city that was enveloped in green year-round. There were large department stores, condominiums, and fancy arcades. Lucy could smell the various scents of perfumes emanating from the perfume shops, and she sighed delightedly while her nostrils inhaled the potent scents. The city had various paths for entering and exiting, which were surrounded by green-leafed trees.

"This city smells so nice, and it looks so wonderful!" Lucy said with an excited look on her face while her violet eyes scanned the area for the large greenhouse where the job had to take place. This person was said to be extremely dangerous, and his Plant Magic gave him the advantage in the botanical gardens.

"There it is." Sting told her with a smirk on his face while he noticed some trees and emerald green grass surrounded a large dome with flowers blooming. That was obviously the Tokiwa Botanical Gardens, where the criminal was waiting.

Sting immediately ran towards the large dome, causing Lucy to run after him to hope that nothing bad would happen while trying to apprehend this criminal. Since no one guarded the entrance, and it was obviously free to get in, Sting and Lucy walked in to see that nothing looked out of the ordinary.

People were walking around and enjoying the sights of the different kinds of trees, flowers, and bushes in the botanical gardens. There were only ten people, from Sting's counting, so who could the culprit be? Surely they had to be close enough to inflict damage on people, or were they a long-range type?

Suddenly, a male voice exclaimed arrogantly, "Time for me to start my training!" Sting and Lucy heard the voice coming from the other end of the botanical gardens, and their eyes widened in shock when brown plant roots emerged from under the emerald green grass and began to constrict every man, woman, and child.

The person who was causing this mayhem appeared on a grassy hill in the botanical gardens, and Lucy was the first to notice him. He had slanted green eyes and very long green hair that he wore drawn into a half ponytail with the rest hanging down freely. The bang hanging over his left eye concealed what appeared to be a black scope in front of his right eye that he used to spot his victims. He wore a V-neck, sleeveless, green shirt along with black pants and brown sandals.

"Ok, so he doesn't know that we're here. That gives us time to get to him, free all these people, and stop him in his tracks!" Lucy told Sting while looking confident, and not noticing her spell book emanating a yellow glow once again.

Suddenly, a tree sprouted up in front of Lucy and the antagonist emerged from it. He had clearly seen that glow, due to his long-range scope for searching, and he had a wicked smirk on his face. He looked at Lucy and Sting, and then let out some curses for not constricting two people.

"Rīfu Furawā's the name. I'm training because this is a game. Moving targets may not be so lame." He said while still smirking and breaking through the tree. He stared down Lucy, and Sting glared at him intensely.

"You're hurting innocent people, you know! You're going to pay for that! Time for the 2nd spell, Lightning Crash!" Lucy a.k.a. Reināre shouted fiercely while narrowing her purple eyes at Rīfu and briefly imagining him as Natsu.

A concentrated beam of lightning emerged from her right hand, and it appeared to be aimed at the antagonist. However, he dodged to the right and the lightning destroyed a root behind him that was constricting a little girl. Sting noticed her smirk, and realized what she had done.

Remembering her speech about trust and Lucy saying how she was there for Sting, the white dragon slayer unleashed his White Dragon's Roar on Rīfu. However, the white laser beam was evenly matched with exploding green seeds that Rīfu spat from his mouth.

"How do you like Seed Bomb, dragon boy? You and your little girlfriend can't defeat me, if I counter your spells and you don't hit me!" Rīfu shouted while spitting more seeds at Sting, and laughing while he was sent flying to the other end of the botanical gardens from the green explosions.

"Sting, no!" Lucy shouted while looking worried, as she aimed Lightning Crash at a root far behind Rīfu. He dodged once again, despite the lightning not being aimed at him. Lucy ran off into the gardens, since the constricted hostages were spread out and she had to free them with a safe mid-range spell.

Rīfu shouted cockily with a smirk on his face while chasing after Lucy and refusing to let her get away, "If you stay in the gardens, then you still want to fight! I've dealt with mages who use Lightning Magic, so I know your weaknesses!"

Lucy kept using Lightning Crash while keeping the antagonist on his toes, since he dodged the lightning each time even though it was aimed at the root behind him. She kept running off, and with time, the cocky antagonist was getting pissed.

"Look, you black-haired chick! It's obvious you're trying to find your boyfriend, but quit running like a scared little girl! If you're gonna fight me, then stop running away all the time! You don't have any chance of hitting me, if you're not gonna stop and work on your aim!" Rīfu shouted with an angry look on his face while looking annoyed at the fact that this game of chase would not cease and desist.

"My aim is perfect, actually." Reināre replied calmly while smiling and performing an akanbe, which was sticking her tongue out, and pulling down her left eyelid at the same time. She used her left index finger to point at the area behind Rīfu, causing him to turn around and see something that would shock him greatly.

The lightning had destroyed all the plant roots he conjured up, and all of his hostages had escaped and ran out of the botanical gardens. He wondered how his strong roots had been obliterated halfway like they appeared to be, and then his green eyes widened with realization when he remembered Lucy's lightning. The attacks were never aimed at him to begin with, and he dodged them like a fool.

"Stupid bitch, you think I'm some kind of idiot? You think you can make a fool out of me? I'll annihilate you for this, you little punk!" Rīfu shouted while looking extremely angry, and slamming his fists down on the ground.

He made giant thorn-covered vines emerge from underground, and he raised them up into the air. They were about to slam down on Reināre, but she used the third spell of Lightning Magic that was known as Light Bomb.

This spell gathered the opponent's power from their attack, and used it against them while multiplying it exponentially. She punched the ground with tremendous force, and a massive yellow blast of light immediately occurred.

Sting opened his mouth while running into the light to eat it, and he wanted to make sure Lucy was okay. To his pleasure, she stood there with a smile while Rīfu was lying face-up on the ground with his eyes open. He was obviously unconscious, and all that electricity had really done damage to him.

"Well, we finished the job. You were amazing." Sting told Lucy with a smile, as he saw the antagonist on the ground tingling from the electric shock going through his body.

"I couldn't have done it without you, Sting. You support me in whatever I do. When you believe in me, I feel courageous." Lucy replied happily, before holding Sting's hand in hers and running out of the gardens with him.

They were both tired when they boarded the ship back home, after receiving the 600,000 jewels from the mayor, and Sting felt comfortable enough to sleep with Lucy. They slept together after that long day, knowing that their spirits feeling good in reality led to good dreams for both of them.

* * *

**How was Chapter 7? More lovely, spicy, and StiCy chemistry is taking place! Was the timeskip ok, to move to the action? Team Natsu will interact with Reināre soon, out of curiosity, and for those wondering if it will happen.. Minerva will be in this story. Let's hope things are good with fate, and we'll see some more StiCy in Chapter 8!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. Hiro Mashima does. This story was made for fun, and not for cash. (How unfortunate.)**

* * *

The next day, Reināre arrived at the guild with a happy smile on her face. No one had discovered or even suspected that she was Lucy. She wore a simple black T-shirt with an orange skirt to match, along with her usual purple high-heels. Upon opening Fairy Tail's entrance doors, Reināre noticed that everyone was being calm instead of wild and rowdy.

Team Natsu sat at a table, and Lisanna seemed to be telling a story of some kind. Elfman was sitting with them as well, along with Mira, leaving Cana to drink and temporarily run the bar while Mirajane was busy. Gossiping about Lucy when she technically wasn't around was certainly a mean thing to do, was it not? Lisanna obviously couldn't say her reaction to Lucy's face, if she was doing this.

"No way! I knew Lucy was weird, but I never knew she worked at Magnolia's most popular strip club!" Gray shouted while looking amazed, and having dirty thoughts run through his mind that seemed to go at a slow pace for him to grasp every detail.

"You should've seen how her bra and panties looked like they would fall off any second, Gray. Her eyes were so red, and she reeked of alcohol when I passed by her! She seemed drunk, too." Lisanna explained with a devious smirk on her face while wanting to laugh at her own words.

"I understand now, Lisanna. Lucy takes jobs from here during the day, but works as a stripper at night. Talk about working a double shift to pay rent, and in such a low way." Erza added while glaring at Fairy Tail's front doors, since Lucy had been gone for a few days now.

Natsu said with a happy grin on his face, before kissing Lisanna's lips passionately, "This is why I love you, Lisanna! You keep me entertained, your Tigress takeover is powerful, and you're sweet, smart, and not boring like Lucy. She's probably still crying over me like the selfish, whiny, sheltered halfwit she is."

Reināre had her back turned to them while she looked at the jobs on the request board, and she clenched her fists in anger at the pretentious rumors Lisanna was spreading. None of that was true, and she was simply trying to increase her impression on everybody, like they hadn't been celebrating about her and exalting her for a while now.

None of the jobs looked good enough to take, despite Lucy a.k.a. Reināre paying her rent of 70,000 jewels to the landlady this morning. It's not that she was greedy for money, but big jobs that involved stopping criminals certainly paid quite the copious amount for at least a few months. She let out a sigh of disappointment, and gasped a little when someone tapped her on the shoulder.

* * *

She turned around to see Cana with two beer mugs in her hands, and she was smiling. Either she was drunk for once, or she needed a drinking partner. Reināre's purple eyes twinkled slightly when she went over to the bar and sat on a barstool while Cana filled up the mugs with beer. Surprisingly, she handed them both to her new drinking partner.

"Aren't you going to drink one of those?" The violet-eyed girl asked curiously, as she picked up one of the mugs and brought it to her lips.

"Who needs mugs when you've got kegs? They're a real upgrade for drinking, you know." Cana responded while she was drinking and gulping down the alcohol at quite the quick pace. Reināre drank from both of the beer mugs just to be polite, even though she was a light drinker.

Sting had given her the day off, after that 2-day adventure to Tokiwa Town, and he deserved some time to recharge after retching up his motion sickness in the sea when he got off the boat in Magnolia. He had even been bragging about new moves he created, but he'd save them for the next Grand Magic Games.

While it was good for both of them to take a break from training, Lucy did miss Sting. She couldn't stop thinking about the kiss they shared by accident, and how she let her feelings out by intensifying the bliss of the kiss. There was a warm feeling in her chest when she thought about Sting, and she began to blush when she imagined him holding her in a bridal-style fashion.

Cana noticed the blush on Reināre's face, and gently touched the other girl's raven-black hair with her gentle hands. Anyone who was quiet like Reināre had to have something on her mind, and Cana wanted to know what it was. Of course, she wouldn't push for an answer like Mira would. After all, Reināre was still new to the guild and Cana didn't want to have the nickname "Creepy Girl."

She relaxed her brown eyes, and looked at Reināre with a smile on her face. New friends had to get to know each other, right? Although, Cana's question might've been slightly awkward to ask off the bat since she'd probably get an unexpected answer.

"Who's your boyfriend, or the guy you like?" Cana wondered while leaning over the table, and having her large breasts bounce a little in front of Reināre's face.

She responded with a soft gasp, oddly enough while ignoring Natsu boasting in the background about how Lisanna was his princess and how she could get him fired up on cold winter nights for them to cuddle and be warm together in his house. They even made flirty noises while they made out, but Reināre still focused on Cana's question.

Hesitant to answer, based on the outcome if she did say Sting, Reināre had a calm look in her violet eyes and she exhaled a breath of air before she spoke. Twiddling her thumbs and blushing, she had to think up a convincing lie.

"Well, he likes harmony and peace. You know, like a natural environment." She told Cana with a small smile, to start off the conversation.

Cana responded in a surprised tone after drinking more alcohol, "You mean Natural Harmonia Gropius, or N, as he likes us to call him? He claims how our types of magic can talk, and how he understands what our magic is saying. I think he's freaky, along with his psychic abilities. Thank god he's out on a long job."

"All right. Anyway, I have to be heading for Castelia Town now. Nice talking to you." Reināre replied with a smile on her face while taking her beer mug and running out of the guild. While she was running, she had accidentally spilled her drink on Natsu's head and she had run too fast for him to know it was her.

* * *

As she saw the last boat in the harbor going out to sea, Lucy sighed sadly and wondered how she would get to visit Sting now. Using Dark Acceleration on the water would attract lots of attention, if Lucy left giant waves in her tracks. She wanted to get there quickly and quietly to surprise Sting, who probably missed her badly.

Lucy walked down the sidewalk in Magnolia that led back to her apartment, but then her purple eyes were filled with joy when she saw someone walking towards her. It was Rogue Cheney, the shadow dragon slayer from the Sabertooth guild, and he was either returning to Castelia by boat or he was in Magnolia to handle a job.

Remembering that Sting could do a perfect transformation of Rogue, Lucy ran towards him while giggling and hugged him from behind. She smiled happily, and she was blushing a light shade of pink.

"Um.. Hi." Rogue said calmly while turning to face his hugger. He didn't know why this girl with long black hair and violet eyes had hugged him, nor did he know who she was. What was going on?

"I know you gave me the day off from our training, but I wanted to go to Castelia and see you! I was going to buy something in their Accessories District for you today, too." Lucy a.k.a. Reināre explained while smiling, and shifting her eyes from Rogue's chest to his face.

Rogue looked puzzled and he thought that this girl was talking crazy, until he remembered that Rufus could make clones of people. He facepalmed, and gently took one of her hands in his to explain the situation.

"I'm Rogue Cheney. Listen, that was probably a clone of me that Rufus made. Did it disappear when you touched it? What's your name, anyway?" He wondered while making a mental note to hurt Rufus for indirectly playing with an innocent girl's affections.

"It's me, Lucy! I transformed into a girl named Reināre, after imagining her in my head, and Sting taught me the technique when he turned into you! Please don't be mad. He agreed to help me become stronger when he saved my life, after Natsu cheated on me and showed me his jerk side." She explained while looking sad for snitching about what Sting was doing.

Much to her surprise, Rogue remained completely calm about the whole situation. He had seen Sting go out to Magnolia on jobs by himself these days, and he could only smile while finding out what his best friend had been doing for the past month.

"Helping nakama become stronger is a good thing to do, Lucy. I can take you to Castelia Town without the need of transportation, thankfully." He replied to her in a calm manner, before holding her hand and disappearing into a puff of black smoke with her.

* * *

**-Castelia Town-**

Rogue and Lucy emerged from the black smoke, with the latter looking surprised to find herself back in Castelia Town. This appeared to be the central plaza of the town, with four roads from the pier and the northern path to Nimbasa Town intersecting at this point. There was a fountain in the plaza's center, with some park benches with soda, coffee, and snack machines nearby.

Turning around behind her, Lucy nearly jumped in fear when she saw the Sabertooth guild behind the beautifully flowing fountain that made the Sabertooth symbol with the water at random instances.

The building was identified by a large red banner, covered in lines and sporting light edges, which bears the guild's symbol, held up by an horizontal staff secured via a chain to a metal ring, adorned by fang-like protrusions, which topped the high pole sustaining the emblem.

Sabertooth's headquarters itself appeared to be a very large saffron-colored complex consisting of several structures joined together. Some of them were even sitting on top of the others, generating an imposing, elongated structure vaguely reminiscent of an odd pyramid adorned by a multitude of facades, windows and pillars, as well as by some pointed towers protruding upwards from its upper part. Topping the whole structure was a massive gold statue portraying the animal which is the guild's namesake, a saber-toothed cat with its jaws open.

Rogue knew his companion wanted to see Sting, but he also knew Minerva was at the guild right now. If she found out Reināre was Lucy, the claws of both women would definitely come out. Lucy had the spell book with her, which had now turned red. (Probably because she was concurrently thinking about her kiss with Sting.)

"Since that's a transformation, stay in character, and stay close to me until we see Sting. Minerva's still mad that Fairy Tail won the last Grand Magic Games tournament, and she's been pissed off ever since." Rogue instructed with a stern facial expression, before putting his hands in his pockets and walking to the guild. Lucy walked fast to catch up with him, and she was definitely excited about this.

_"I've reverted back and transformed again, so my limit as Reināre is three days for every time I transform. Well, no matter! I'll show Sting that I'm strong enough to transform for a week!"_ Lucy thought while looking confident and smirking when she imagined herself impressing Sting to the point of him smiling and applauding someone for once.

She held the red spell book against her chest, and its warmth unknowingly erased her Fairy Tail mark as a temporary thing since it somehow read her thoughts. The Sabertooth guild became closer into her view, prompting her to look happy and have twinkles in her violet eyes.

* * *

Rogue opened the entrance doors to Sabertooth, and the inside of the guild looked like a hotel lobby with its fancy chairs, golden walls, and red carpeting. They had a brown bar like the one at Fairy Tail, but it was a self-serving bar with its machines for drinks, candy, and chips.

Lucy a.k.a. Reināre gasped in awe when she saw a machine dispensing the finest desserts that anyone could ask for, and the paintings on the walls were portraying Minerva doing many poses. The gold reception desk at the back of the room with two golden elevators next to it appeared to be where a Mage could join the guild. Classical music being played by a violin could be heard through a speaker somewhere in the gold ceiling, and Rogue noticed his companion's smile.

Two porcelain gold statues of saber-toothed cats were on each side of Sabertooth's entrance doors, and Lucy took in the elegance of it all. While she was busy admiring the lobby of the guild, she didn't notice Sting, Orga, Rufus, and Minerva walking towards her and Rogue.

"You're back, Rogue. Why is this girl with you?" Minerva asked while glaring daggers at the violet-eyed girl in front of her.

She kept glaring at Reināre, who only had her eyes fixated on Sting, as he blew her a kiss a few seconds before Minerva turned around to see what her guest was looking at. Reināre caught the kiss and held it near her heart while she blushed cherry red, only to make Minerva feel awkward.

Girls who resembled Flare Corona and Jenny Realight were passing by while they made silent gestures and mouthed words to wonder which one of the guys Lucy was staring at. She pointed at Sting with her left index finger, and ran past Minerva to hug him tightly while resting her head on his chest.

"Rufus, please learn and memorize sign language to know what she's saying. I'm going to get some cake to put joy in my mouth and drown out all her weirdness." Minerva told him with a death glare on her face, before teleporting to the other end of the room.

"_I'm finally here with my beloved Sting! This is like a dream come true!" _Lucy thought to herself while looking up at Sting, and seeing him smirk at her with confidence.

"_Our lips are only inches apart, unlike that accidental kiss. Next time, it'll be a kiss for real."_ Sting thought, noticing the minor distance between their lips and grinning a bit about it.

* * *

**How was Chapter 8? Lucy finally has a friend in Fairy Tail! To make things better, Sting is very happy to see her visit! What will happen when Sting takes Lucy to Nimbasa Town for some fun on their day off? Will they need teamwork to deal with a couple of stalking fairies? Standby for the chemistry to grow in Chapter 9!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. Hiro Mashima does. This story was made for fun, and not for cash. (How unfortunate.)**

* * *

Sting kept grinning at Lucy, as they hugged, taking in the wonderful scent of the blue raspberry shampoo that became her smell when she was disguised as Reināre and he ran his fingers through her beautiful black hair. She giggled a little, and pulled Sting closer to her while she blushed.

"I didn't expect you to come here on our day off from training, you know. Well, I guess I can welcome you to the Sabertooth guild. It's only lost a few people since Fairy Tail won the last Grand Magic Games, but we're still pretty popular." Sting explained calmly while he still grinned at Reināre, who gently rested her head on his chest.

"The golden elevator on the left side of the reception desk takes you up or down to rooms for many activities while the elevator on the right side of the reception desk has the bedrooms for guild members, the dining room, and the guild master's office at the top floor. I'd tell you about all the activity rooms, but your memorization may falter upon hearing them all." Rufus interrupted calmly with a small smile, before sitting down on a chair and reading a book.

"You've been seeing this girl or something, Sting? Is that why you've been smelling like a girl, or do you normally wear women's perfume?" Orga asked while he chuckled at his own joke.

Sting looked slightly annoyed and was about to retort, until Reināre bent her arm backwards with her back turned to Orga and unleashed a small red fireball from the palm of her left hand. It struck one of Orga's black shoes, causing him to scream and run out of the guild while putting his shoe in the fountain of water to douse the flame.

"Sorry if you didn't want me sticking up for you, but he sure got burned by his own joke." Reināre a.k.a. Lucy told Sting with a happy facial expression as she looked into his eyes that were blue like sapphires. Sting stopped hugging her for a moment, and an idea made its way into his mind.

"Since this is our day off, do you want to come to Nimbasa Town with us? It's the heart of leisure and entertainment in Fiore, unlike Castelia where it's mostly about fancy businesses and economy. I mean, we've gotten so good in our work that we deserve some fun." Sting asked while smiling, as he began to think of all the cotton candy he could eat.

Before she could give an answer to his question, Minerva teleported in between them and shot an angry glare at Sting. Minerva was the type of person who believed that being a Mage was mostly about doing good jobs to improve strength, and goofing off would turn her fellow guild members into slackers.

She told Sting and Reināre in a harsh tone while narrowing her green eyes at them, "Sting, you don't even go out on jobs with us anymore! I do hope you're not slacking off and being lazy! The same goes for you, new girl. We don't accept freeloaders in Sabertooth, especially not when the Grand Magic Games happen in a few months!"

"Take it easy, Minerva. This girl and I have been training, ever since we met last month. She's had it pretty rough, and I decided to help her become stronger after saving her from a suicidal fall." Sting responded defensively of himself and Lucy while exaggerating his story to see if Minerva would care a little bit.

"My ex-boyfriend kicked me off of his team, and he cheated on me with another girl! They, and the other team members, said such horrible things to me! It was so very painful, Minerva! I cried while finding this spell book you see in my hands, and I jumped from a two-story window of the guild! Sting saved me, and that's how we met." Reināre added while looking sad, as she recalled the events of Natsu's betrayal with Lisanna, and how Sting helped her become someone she could be proud of.

Minerva knew the feeling of being cheated on, since Orga had done it to her before and learned the hard way that he couldn't do it again. Other men experienced the same pain from Minerva's energy waves, mostly because they hated her proper and extremely demanding attitude.

No matter how much she didn't want to admit it, she empathized with Reināre but that didn't mean she would automatically just let her join the Sabertooth guild. She had to prove her worth, one way or another. Minerva never liked rookies and she intended to test Reināre's skills to the full extent of her power.

"Let's go to Nimbasa Town, shall we? After all, this is not only a day of fun but it's a grand opportunity for us to get acquainted! We may actually find you to be useful to Sabertooth!" Minerva said with a smile on her face while walking and simultaneously shoving Reināre out of the doors, just in time to see Orga return with his dry and doused shoe.

Sting, Rogue, Rufus, and Orga followed Reināre and Minerva out of the guild and they all took the northern route that led to Nimbasa Town. Unbeknownst to any of them, Juvia, Wendy, and Carla had coincidentally been sitting on a park bench nearby to rest after walking all the way from Humilau Town where they had to handle the job of creating ocean waves and extreme winds for participants in an extreme surfing contest.

* * *

"Juvia, why did you reject all those guys who tried to flirt with you?" Wendy asked with a curious facial expression while licking a cotton candy-flavored Casteliacone, which was blue ice cream on a waffle cone.

"None of them were Gray-sama, the only man that Juvia could ever love. Besides, Juvia was very displeased by the vernacular of that blue-haired Mage who kept trying to make advances! His calm nature about the potentially damaging waves freaked Juvia out! He could not be tight with them, as he claimed!" Juvia replied with a snooty look on her face while she closed her eyes and folded her arms, before taking a lick of the vanilla-flavored Casteliacone in her left hand.

Wendy was about to ask more questions, but when she turned her head north towards the path going to Nimbasa Town, she saw something familiar to her. Reināre was walking off into the distance with the mages from Sabertooth, but why? Had she been with them all along, or were they helping her out with a job?

Juvia turned her head to where Wendy was looking out of curiosity, and she recognized the girl with long raven-black hair from the other day. She had attacked Natsu by accident, and she had disappeared when a bright violet light blinded everyone else's eyes. Was she an intruder from Sabertooth who attacked Fairy Tail for kicks, to start some kind of war between the two guilds? Juvia couldn't take the chance of a spy from Sabertooth being in Fairy Tail, so she narrowed her blue eyes and finished her ice cream quickly.

Seeing the fierce look in Juvia's blue eyes, Wendy's instincts told her to finish eating her ice cream cone and head north towards Nimbasa Town. Clearly, Juvia had something to take care of.

* * *

**In Nimbasa Town…**

Lucy's now violet eyes twinkled with delight when she saw that a large part of the city was an entire amusement park with its high-speed roller coaster, Ferris wheel, casinos, prize booths, photo booth, restaurants, cannons, and other attractions.

She asked with an excited look on her face while scanning the entire area, "Where should we go first, guys?"

"How about we all split up for a while and meet back here when we're done?" Sting suggested in a calm tone while grinning at Lucy a.k.a. Reināre. Nobody had a problem with his idea, and Minerva immediately walked over towards the restaurant with Rufus. Rogue simply went to get cotton candy with Orga, leaving Sting and Lucy alone together.

"_Oh, wow! We're finally alone! Sting might take me into the photo booth, and we might kiss for real!" _Lucy a.k.a. Reināre thought with a deep red blush on her face, as she turned away from Sting and twiddled her thumbs and looked somewhat happy but also nervous. Would their real first kiss be something magical, and would the feeling last for a lifetime?

Sting told Lucy in a calm tone when she turned back around to see him smiling, "If you don't mind me suggesting this, we should go to Nimbasa Town's hot springs. They're rarely used because of the new one that was founded on the other side of Fiore in Katsura Town, a town that actually has a hot climate and people who use Fire Magic. Anyway, do you want to go?"

He had to summon up most of his courage to ask her that, and this would be his first time being in a hot spring with a woman. Not that he was planning to do anything to her, but Sting wondered how Lucy felt about his question. Either she would say yes and go with him, or she would say no and think he was a creepy pervert. No matter what she said, Sting knew he'd be in hot water either way. He didn't want to seem like a disgusting jerk named Natsu, but he also didn't want to be in the hot springs alone.

"I'd love to go with you, Sting! They obviously filter out the water and change it each day, if the staff has nothing better to do! To put it simply, my answer is yes!" Lucy replied happily while hugging him again, and she looked at a nearby wooden sign that displayed map of Nimbasa Town. The hot springs were northwest, past an area overgrown with cedar trees to conceal their whereabouts.

* * *

Lucy held Sting's hand in hers while she giggled a little bit, and they ran off in the direction of the hot springs. As she was excited to finally have some alone time with Sting, Lucy's senses caught up with her and she stopped for a second. Hearing soft footsteps that she recognized coming from behind her and Sting, she narrowed her violet eyes at the two mages from Fairy Tail.

Juvia and Wendy both looked surprised to see Reināre holding hands with Sting, and Wendy wondered if she was actually from the Sabertooth guild. She wanted to talk this out peacefully, and get an explanation of what was going on. However, Juvia had other plans in mind. She pointed her left index finger at the raven-haired female standing in front of her, as she had a harsh facial expression.

"My name is Juvia Lockser, and Juvia knows that you're the new girl who wanted to join Fairy Tail the other day! Why are you hanging out with that guy from Sabertooth? They're the sworn enemies of our guild, if no one told you that. You better not be a traitor!" Juvia shouted fiercely at Reināre, who began to somewhat smirk like Sting would.

"It's funny how everyone in Fairy Tail thinks people are traitors for being friends with people from other guilds, yet the guild members certainly believe in cheating on their lovers and kicking people off of teams. Anyway, I'm free to do what I want. You have no power over me, Juvia. I suggest you go away, before I make you go away." Reināre replied in a cold tone, her right fist clenching a little with anger at Juvia's words.

"Juvia will gladly fight this out with you! There is nothing to be afraid of, since you only have a book! Holder Magic will be useless, after the item is gone! Water Cyclone!" Juvia yelled with confidence in her blue eyes, as she unleashed a whirling torrent of water that resembled a cyclone from her hands.

Reināre shouted viciously, as the red book began to glow, "The first spell, Sunny Day! That's not all! The second spell, Magma Liquid!"

She placed both of her hands together, and aimed them upward at the sky. The red book emitted a scarlet red glow, and the clouds immediately parted over Nimbasa Town. In a few seconds, the sunlight became intense and the temperature in the air began to rise. However, the heat waves only affected enemies. (Since Lucy won't see Wendy as an enemy in this story, she's also unaffected.)

The second spell allowed Lucy to build up a strange substance in her mouth, and she spat out large puddles of red liquid at Juvia's feet. While it seemed stupid, Juvia began to scream when the sludge on her feet and below began to reach temperatures of volcanic heat. The harsh sunlight's heat only contributed to making the liquid reach heightened temperatures, prompting Juvia to jump out of the magma puddle and throw her burning boots on some nearby grass.

Wendy said in a calm tone while smiling after inhaling some air, "Sky Dragon's Falling Arrows!" She exhaled out seven drill-shaped beams of wind from her mouth, and they all honed in on Reināre. Before she could even react, Sting countered the attack with White Dragon's Holy Ray. The barrage of light beams canceled out Wendy's wind attacks, and created a smokescreen in the process.

Juvia couldn't see past the smoke, and she took a hit from one of Reināre's fire spells that was large and shaped like the kanji for 'fire'. It created a fiery explosion, as it made contact with her and the people in the amusement park thought that the four mages were putting on a show of some kind for them.

"How do you like the third spell, Fire Blast? It's a very damaging move, isn't it? Now I'll ask again. Will you leave, or must I make you leave?" Reināre asked while she glared at Juvia, her fists clenched with little mercy in her violet eyes.

Before Juvia could reply, as the smoke cleared up, Wendy stepped in front of her and she had something to say. Looking defensive and determined, the young sky dragon slayer had a look of courage in her brown eyes and she began to speak.

"This fighting is really pointless, everyone! Besides, it would be bad for both of our guild's reputations if we damaged anything in this town! We should all just stop! This was Juvia's idea, but we don't want to hurt you, and you probably don't intend to hurt us! If we want to have a fight like this, then we should just save it for the Grand Magic Games coming up. That way, we can fight fairly without anyone getting into trouble!" Wendy explained while she looked at Sting, Reināre, and Juvia with a serious facial expression.

"That's fine, little sky dragon girl. Our guilds can stop fighting until then. We'll be on our way now, so goodbye." Sting replied with a calm smirk on his face, as he took Reināre's hand, and continued on toward the hot springs with her.

Juvia tried standing up, but the burns from her female opponent's fire attacks had caused her to fall to her knees. Wendy proceeded to heal the burns, looking disappointed that Juvia's water couldn't win against volcanic fire. Still, she had time to get stronger. The Grand Magic Games were quite a ways away.

* * *

**Meanwhile…**

Lucy and Sting made it to the bathhouse of Nimbasa Town, and went through a door leading to the bathing areas. Sting read a wooden sign on the wall with arrows directing the males to the hot spring at the end of the left hallway, and directing the females to the hot spring at the end of the right hallway.

"Well, I guess this means we have to separate for now." Sting told Lucy while sighing a little and looking somewhat disappointed, before heading into the changing room on the left hallway.

"What's wrong, Sting? You're not afraid to bathe without me, are you? Or are you thinking of seeing me naked?" Lucy asked with a flirtatious facial expression, her violet eyes twinkling a little before putting a finger to Sting's lips.

Sting immediately blushed and turned around, not wanting Lucy to see how he reacted to her question. He really did need her company, and since she came to visit him today, letting her join him was the least that he could do. Looking shy for once, Sting tried to give Lucy a response. However, before he could, he saw three guys walking towards the bathing area and he didn't want Lucy feeling uncomfortable and overwhelmed.

"Ok, it looks like I'm going in the women's bathing area with you today. I don't want anyone getting frisky with you, Lucy. I'll never let such a degrading thing happen to you." Sting replied while smiling, and running with her to the women's changing area when the lady at the desk turned her head for a moment.

The white dragon slayer felt slightly ridiculed for having to take off his clothes in a pink room for the females, but he had to do it to keep Lucy safe. He wasn't going to let perverted guys grope and possibly rape her, and he didn't want her to go through any hurtful situations like what Natsu had done to her.

He put a white towel around his waist, and ran out of the pink stall in the changing room after hearing another stall open and close a few moments earlier. Running down the hallway to make sure no other guys followed him and Lucy here, Sting had the determination to keep his companion safe and sound.

* * *

**In the hot spring… (Note: Contains some lemon.)**

Sting opened the sliding door quickly, and nearly came skidding to a halt when he saw what was in front of him. Reināre stood up in the water while slightly bending over to wash her ankles, her long raven-black hair covering her back but giving Sting a perfect view of her nice and curvy rear. Sting looked like he wanted to scream, and his heart was palpitating at a fast pace. He was seeing a glorious sight in front of him, and his face turned a deep shade of red.

He used his willpower to move a few steps toward the hot water, but he fell in after slipping on Lucy's wet pink towel. Upon hearing his splash, Lucy immediately sat down in the water and blushed a little.

"Well, you certainly know how to make an entrance." She told Sting while giggling, as he rose his head to the surface and spat out some water. He saw Reināre's large breasts in front of his face, prompting him to blush even more. They probably felt really soft like feather cushions, but Sting would never degrade Lucy. Even if his perverted thoughts tried to overpower him, Sting had to maintain his composure. He exhaled a light breath of air, calming down a little before speaking.

"Listen, Lucy. I just don't feel comfortable to be naked with you, and I don't know what might happen if we bathe in here together. I just don't want anything bad happening to you!" Sting blurted out while looking a little bit depressed and thinking that Lucy might hate him forever.

Instead, he felt her arms hug him around the waist and Sting felt Lucy's warm breath on his back. Her breasts pushed up against him, obviously getting out of his zone of composure once again. Lucy put some vanilla body wash on her hands, and she began to rub Sting's back in a slow manner.

"Sting, it's ok. Remember how you were afraid to sleep in the same bed with me on the trip to Tokiwa Town? Well, just like last time, I trust you. I know you would never do anything wrong to me, and I would never do anything major to you. Unlike with Natsu, I can trust you. Sting, I feel safe with you. Even if you were wanting to see me naked and be alone with me in here, and even if you groped my breasts to shield them from guys, I know it's because you're protecting me." Lucy responded with a smile on her face, as she continued to wash Sting's back and then rested her head against it.

The white dragon slayer smiled slightly and he knew that he could trust Lucy and he could trust himself as well. Whenever he doubted himself, Lucy always comforted Sting. It was always reciprocal when she had problems, too. He had managed to help her gain confidence in herself while she helped him gain composure.

He turned around to face Lucy, and Sting began to look at her breasts and her face. He grabbed a shampoo bottle that had been floating around in the water, and he poured some shampoo on to Lucy's breasts. He overcame the hesitation of touching her, and Sting began to rub and caress them with his delicate hands.

Lucy blushed and gasped slightly from the feeling of Sting's soft hands caressing her breasts while his fingers occasionally touched her nipples with gentle ease. Her body became hot like the water, and she let out a soft moan into Sting's ear while he proceeded to wash around her navel area as well.

"Ahhhhh… Sting, you're really good at this…" Lucy moaned while Sting was washing her with the cold shampoo and letting her rest her head on his chest. Lucy felt like Sting had to taken her to heaven, hence his attacks being holy. She giggled when Sting's hands accidentally touched her ticklish areas, causing him to smile.

"_She's so beautiful when she smiles. Lucy needs light in her life, and I'll illuminate her heart." _Sting thought to himself with a smile when his blue eyes met her violet ones. He was so entranced into her eyes, that his hands unconsciously moved towards Lucy's curvy rear and they began to massage it and give it some relief from the hot water.

Lucy blushed even more from the pleasure that Sting's hands were giving her, and she let out more soft moans when they smoothly stroked their way down to her feet and all the way back up to her neck. Clearly, Sting was quite the masseuse. He loved hearing Lucy's feelings of enjoyment, and he wanted to get some things off of his mind.

"I was wondering… Would you ever consider joining Sabertooth and moving somewhere close by, regardless of the outcome of this year's Grand Magic Games, Lucy? Also, did you have fun today even though we didn't get to do much?" Sting asked while blushing and looking nervous about the questions that he asked her.

Lucy's eyes widened in amazement when Sting asked such important questions and she told him while beginning to smile and relax in the water, "I'd love to be closer to you, Sting! Even if both of our guilds get seventh and eighth place, we still win by having each other! Besides, don't fret over Juvia wasting our time. The day's not over until midnight, and we have 12 hours left to have fun!"

Sting looked happy at her answer, a sense of joy being seen in his beautiful blue eyes. He swam over to Lucy while they floated together in the hot water, and he put his hands on her cheeks that turned a light shade of pink. He didn't know if she liked the taste of his lips from their accidental kiss, and Sting wanted to officially show Lucy his love for her.

Lucy could tell that Sting was about to kiss her, and she closed her eyes while moving her black hair out of her face. She leaned in for her part of returning the kiss, as she smiled and let the blush on her face do the talking. Their hearts were both beating with feelings of anticipation, wondering how their first official kiss would turn out.

Their lips connected after a few seconds, and Sting pressed his lips against hers in a gentle manner. He didn't want to go too hard, and he was surprised when Lucy a.k.a. Reināre returned the kiss with her lips giving Sting a sense of bliss. He put his arms around her waist while she put her arms around his neck. She tasted white frosting on his lips, since he had eaten a white chocolate cake a few minutes before her arrival at Sabertooth. Sting enjoyed how Lucy's lips tasted like syrup and waffles, her favorite meal at breakfast time.

Lucy broke the kiss for a moment, and she smiled while blushing at Sting. She jumped into his arms, so that he would carry her in a bridal-style fashion. They both blushed while smirking flirtatiously at each other, and they were about to kiss again.

However, they were interrupted and looked extremely shocked when they saw Minerva standing on the concrete with her purple towel falling downward like her jaw at what she had seen since Sting forgot to close the door.

* * *

**How was Chapter 9? Sorry for the weekly wait. College work is time-consuming. Anyway, Sting and Lucy have finally kissed and it was official! However, what will Minerva think of Sting being in the women's bathing area? Will Fairy Tail ever miss Lucy being gone? What other powers does the spell book have inside it?** **Maybe there will be a shocking edge in Chapter 10!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. Hiro Mashima does. This story was made for fun, and not for cash. (How unfortunate.)**

* * *

Lucy could only look surprised at Minerva suddenly appearing in the women's bathing area of the hot springs, and Sting being there right now made the situation really awkward. To make it even weirder, Minerva had seen them frolicking around in the water the entire time, but she didn't hear everything that they had said. Still, Lucy blushed a deep shade of red before going into the water and hiding behind Sting for safety.

"Sting, you filthy pervert! I know she's your training partner, but you have no right to be teaching her techniques in a place where you have no business being! I know you two were getting frisky and having your little warm-up session, but don't be so disgraceful to do it in a place where others must bathe!" Minerva shouted with a reproving glare on her face, as she narrowed her green eyes when she was chastising Sting and Lucy.

"Don't be so harsh on Sting, Minerva! It's not his fault that he's clingy towards me, but he just didn't want me to be in here alone and possibly drown!" Lucy shouted with a defensive facial expression while talking in her more mature and sultry voice as Reināre. She always came to Sting's defense, even when the situation got awkward like this one.

"Look, let's just all agree that I shouldn't be in the women's hot spring. I followed Reināre because I didn't want any other guys trying to harm her when she was going to be in the changing rooms by herself. She's the darkness to my light, and I want to be there for her when she needs me." Sting explained calmly, glaring back at Minerva like he would kill her for interrupting a peaceful moment.

* * *

She teleported Sting back into the women's changing room where she had seen his clothes in a stall, prompting Reināre to gasp in shock at the sight of her lover vanishing right before her eyes. Clenching her teeth and growling a little, she went out of the hot water and on to the concrete floor before dashing at Minerva with her left fist prepared to hit her.

As she pulled it back and released it, Minerva caught Reināre's fist and held it in place while smirking evilly at her opponent and beginning to chuckle a little bit. After all, if Sting had been training her for a month, how could she honestly start things off with an attempted punch?

"Why so direct, Reināre? Are you angry that I sent your boyfriend back to the changing room, so he could get his clothes on and leave? Did I interrupt your lovemaking? Was he turning you on with his hands and charm while groping you? Did he mark you with a bite yet to claim you as his?" Minerva asked in a taunting manner, continuing to smirk at her opponent who kept glaring angrily at her.

"Shut your mouth, Minerva! My relationship is none of your concern, and we were having a nice time before you showed up and spoiled our chance at getting a second official romantic kiss! He didn't mark me yet, but I'm about to leave a mark on your face!" Reināre retorted harshly with anger in her violet eyes, as she tried to strike Minerva with her other fist.

However, Minerva caught that hand as well with her left hand and she held the violet-eyed girl's fists in place before sadistically crushing them a little bit. Reināre winced in pain from Minerva's impressive brute strength, and she had fallen to her knees in front of the tiger lady who held her fists captive while continuing to crush her hands as punishment for defending Sting.

"Yes, kneel before the one who is superior to you and know your place. I do wonder what I would've gotten to see if I had stayed hidden. Perhaps you would've been moaning Sting's name if he took your virginity and made your entire body feel good. Still, when it comes to style, smarts, strength, sexiness and sophistication, you're nowhere near my level. You really shouldn't try to fight someone when you have no chance of winning, sweetie." Minerva told Lucy while she smirked and had leaned in close to where their lips could almost touch when she was giving her that condescending speech.

Lucy was getting really tired of people looking down on her, and her anger had welled up from inside her. She had been cheated on by Natsu, replaced by Lisanna, scolded by Erza, shunned by Gray, and now ridiculed by Minerva. Refusing to take anymore abuse, Lucy clenched her teeth and her black hair covered the look of anger in her violet eyes.

"If I have no chance of beating you, then let's prove it! When we get back to the Sabertooth guild, I'm going to fight you! If I win, then you have to let me join the guild!" She shouted fiercely with determination in her voice, as she used her wet hands to loosen Minerva's grip and free them from her captivity.

"Well, a lady must accept a challenge even if it's from someone who appears to be really pathetic. This will definitely make me laugh, and you'll have to do whatever I say after I win." Minerva replied while smiling deviously, her green eyes twinkling to match her smirk. The sunlight shined on her tan and oiled skin, as she dove into the hot water to relax while purposely making one of her feet kick Reināre in the face.

Simply rubbing her bruised right cheek, Reināre walked back to the changing room to put back on her clothes and retrieve her spell book. After what Minerva had done and said, Lucy was not going to have a repeat of the Naval Battle where Minerva had beaten her to a bloody pulp and tortured her. Confidence found its way into her violet eyes, but how would Sting react to this news?

* * *

**At the picnic area in Nimbasa Town…**

After getting dressed and getting the book, Lucy found the white dragon slayer sitting alone at a picnic table under a tree on the green grass eating an entire cheese pizza and drinking soda from a large-sized cup. There were some hot dogs and cheeseburgers on the picnic table, too, most likely saved for Lucy. She took a deep breath, and she had to summon up her courage to say this.

"Sting, I got into an argument with Minerva and we're going to fight when we get back to Castelia Town!" She told him with both nervousness and confidence in her voice while smiling a little.

Sting spat out his soda and nearly choked on his fifth slice of pizza before coughing and looking appalled at what his companion told him. Was Lucy seriously going to take on Minerva, someone who was even stronger than Sting and Rogue combined? Either she thought she was ready and skilled enough, or the steam from the hot spring had fogged up her brain while the water leaked common sense from her ears and out of her head.

"Not that I doubt your abilities, but please tell me you remember the Naval Battle from last year. You got completely pulverized by Minerva when she took your keys from you, and she'll probably do worse to you after she takes that book! You should just tell her you'll forfeit while you're still in one piece and have your life intact!" Sting shouted while looking extremely concerned for Lucy and showing obvious worry in his blue eyes.

Lucy replied while sitting down and locking eyes with Sting as she looked completely determined, "The odds of me winning are probably slim to none, but I still have a small chance of beating her! I won't give up, after what she said about us! I won't let my pride and dignity fall so easily, and I refuse to look bad in front of you!"

Sting widened his eyes in amazement at the last thing Lucy had said. She refused to look bad in front of the person she probably admired the most? Was she doing this because she cared about Sting more than proving anything to Minerva? Was he the thing that was giving her such a strong resolve to beat Minerva?

He said nicely with his frown changing somewhat into a little smile, "We've been working as a team, so I should act like we're a team and encourage you in this instead of tearing you down. Sorry about that, Lucy."

She giggled happily at Sting beginning to see her reason for wanting to fight Minerva, and she felt totally ready to take her on. However, the growling of her stomach put a halt to her plans for now. She started eating a cheeseburger, and filling herself up with food to be energized for the fight later on. While Lucy and Sting were eating, they were unaware that the spell book changed to an orange color while having a pulsating and radiating orange glow shining inside of it.

Lucy ate fast to keep her high metabolism from digesting things quickly because that occurred when she ate slowly, and she smiled while feeling full of unbridled energy at the moment. She knew that there was still time for her and Sting to have fun, so she giggled in a happy manner and grabbed his hand before running off with him to one of the amusement park's attractions.

They made their way to a go-kart raceway, and Lucy was in a pink car while Sting was hesitant to get into the blue one next to hers. When the light turned green, Lucy looked surprised to see Sting and his zooming off fast at 150 miles per hour while he laughed excitedly and wasn't feeling motion sickness at all. Lucy went at 50 miles per hour for safety, still looking in awe at Sting having fun with that high amount of speed.

"_Is he seriously making it go that fast with just his excited spirit?" _Lucy wondered, as she saw Sting drifting around curves with sharp turns while he still looked like this was a great thrill. The members of Team Quatro Puppy would definitely say he was wild, that's for sure.

He crossed the finish line 20 minutes before Lucy did, and he won the prize of 40,000 jewels for pulling off such an impressive feat. Lucy got 10,000 jewels as a consolation prize, but she was still satisfied that Sting got to have some fun after the awkwardness earlier that day with Minerva.

* * *

As they were going to get some cotton candy, Sting heard the sound of wings flapping from behind and he looked a little bit frustrated while perfectly knowing the sound. He turned around quickly to see his red Exceed named Lector land on top of his head and smirk arrogantly.

"Sting-kun, you left me behind at the guild! I wanted to come along, too! I guess you didn't want me to barge in on your date with your girlfriend!" Lector told him while pouting and taking a quick bite of a little girl's cotton candy when she passed by.

"Wow, he's cuter than Happy and Carla!" Reināre said with a happy smile on her face while hugging Lector and accidentally putting his face in between her cleavage. He shouted for air to breathe, prompting her to release him from her grasp.

"As you can see, Lector, Lucy Heartfilia is using Transformation Magic to be disguised as a girl named Reināre. Too bad she only has enough energy for the transformation to last three days straight, unless she dispels it during those 72 hours." Sting explained to his best friend while smirking at Reināre's orange skirt being lifted up a little by a passing breeze that came through Nimbasa Town.

Sting also told Lector to keep quiet about Reināre's true identity, because he didn't want Minerva to find out. She would obviously throw a huge fit about it, which is what Sting wanted to avoid the most. The newly formed trio got some large and hot salty pretzels instead of cotton candy, but their delicious taste was satisfying enough for Sting to buy more for later.

While Lucy was having fun at the arcade, concession stands, the roller coaster, and the Ferris Wheel with Sting and Lector, she also knew that each passing minute would draw her closer to her fight with Minerva. Her heart began to beat fast with some nervousness, having remembered her extraordinary abilities to teleport her energy wave attacks and manipulate the spatial matter around her. Hopefully, something in the spell book could counter that type of Magic. Although, she thought it was highly unlikely that Erza's Nakagami Armor would be a spell in the book.

* * *

**Back in Castelia Town…**

The group of Sabertooth mages had made it back to the guild, prompting Reināre and Minerva to immediately glare daggers at each other. They stood across from each other in the wide space between the guild and the fountain, and both women were ready to start this fight.

Reināre quickly opened the orange book, and noticed that spells of Earth Magic had been written in the book. The first spell, Earth Bulldoze, made a brown drill of rock surround her left hand and she slammed it into the ground while it began to drill underground.

Minerva ran towards Reināre with a smirk on her face, but stopped when the ground beneath the women began to crack into many large chunks of earth. She made a large energy wave surround the falling chunk of earth Reināre was standing on, and it exploded into tiny pieces!

The violet-eyed girl was thrusted up into the air by Minerva's attack, and she gasped in shock when her opponent teleported behind her and brutally kicked her in the back. Reināre coughed up a little bit of blood, and she winced in pain when Minerva slammed her fist down on her back to send her crashing into the ground.

"Are you going to give up now?" Minerva asked while smirking evilly, as she saw the medium-sized crater down below with Reināre appearing to be unconscious. She still clutched the orange book in her hands, and she managed to stand up.

"Are you going to dodge this?" Reināre asked in a confident tone before throwing a ball of mud at Minerva, who simply redirected its path to curve around her and fire back at Lucy. That was no ordinary mud ball, unfortunately. When it struck the area a few inches in front of her, a brown blast of energy occurred which blinded everyone's eyes for a few seconds.

When all the smoke cleared up, Minerva immediately seized the opportunity to strike Reināre with energy waves from all directions in only a matter of seconds, causing the violet-eyed girl to fall to her knees and tremble a little bit from the pain. Her body began to shake with fear and her legs lost the will to move. There was no doubt about it. With her spells being countered and torn through like this, Reināre had no chance of winning.

Her breathing became anxious and tears filled her eyes, as she imagined herself in a dark void with Minerva smirking evilly in front of her and towering over her while she was beginning to shrink to the size of an ant. She couldn't move at all, and Lucy felt like she was backed into a corner. Just like in the dream that she had about Natsu and Lisanna burning down her apartment for their own pleasure, before proceeding to burn her to a crisp.

Upon remembering the pain that Natsu had caused her, and upon feeling the burning pain of Minerva's attacks, Lucy saw them as one and the same. She wasn't going to let Natsu burn away her happiness, and she wasn't going to let Minerva hurt her and Sting in any way possible. Her trembling stopped, and her tears desisted.

She stood up slowly with her black hair covering the determined look in her violet eyes and told Minerva in a confident tone while smiling a little, "I absolutely refuse to lose here, especially in front of the person I admire the most! He's not seeing the crying girl that he saved from a fall anymore, Minerva! He's seeing the girl who likes his smirk and can't bear to look bad in front of him!"

"For someone who probably can only stand up one last time, you've got a lot of smug confidence! Let's see if it gets you anywhere, Reināre!" Minerva yelled fiercely, as she had a sadistic look on her face and sent an extremely large energy wave at her opponent. The violet-eyed girl slammed her palms down on the ground, almost as if she was absorbing the hardness of the earth and using it as strength. Would she have rock-hard resistance?

Minerva's powerful attack surrounded Reināre, causing her to feel pain from the burns, but she didn't feel as much pain as before. Absorbing the resistance and toughness of the hardest minerals in the earth was a smart move, and also the third spell known as Rock Drain.

Lucy could feel her strength being not only revitalized, but increased from the power of the third spell. Her offense, defense, stamina, and speed had ascended to the levels where she could dash towards Minerva and send her into the air with a punch to the face.

She sprang up high into the air to deliver a series of punches and kicks that were dense as the hardest rocks in Fiore, prompting Minerva to get bruises, cough up blood, and scream in pain. Lucy put her arms around Minerva's waist, and began spinning at an extremely fast pace while they descended towards the ground.

When they hit the ground, it exploded into large chunks and made an extremely large crater appear in front of Sting, Lector, Rogue, and Rufus. They all looked amazed at what Reināre had done, but had she defeated Minerva?

The smoke cleared up, and both girls stood across from each other while panting heavily and looking bruised and bloody all over. Minerva's blue dress and Reināre's black shirt were nearly torn off with all the fighting they did, causing both girls to glare at each other viciously. They each only had enough energy left for one last attack, and the determined looks in their eyes could tell anyone that they would make this last shot count.

When Minerva's earlier attack surrounded Reināre, it also made contact with the orange spell book. However, instead of being damaged, it began to emit an orange glow again. The fourth spell had been written, and Reināre's violet eyes were filled with strength, confidence, and determination. What would come from this new spell, after it seemingly absorbed some energy from Minerva's attack?

The fourth spell created an orange sphere of spiraling energy in Reināre's right hand, and it had the kanji for 'Earth' appearing in white in the center of the sphere. She ran towards Minerva, who also ran towards her opponent with an energy wave containing a large amount of magical power.

Sting immediately gasped in amazement when Reināre and Minerva locked eyes and struck each other in the chest with their respective attacks. An orange blast of energy occurred immediately, and it made the sound of a large explosion! The guys covered their eyes, and the noise was loud enough for Jiemma and other members of the guild to come outside and see what happened.

"Man, that girl had some wicked attacks. I don't think anyone could've seen so much power coming from that last spell, not even a person who had Psychic Magic." Orga said to himself, as he still looked stunned like the others did.

After all the large clouds of smoke faded away, everyone could only hear Reināre and Minerva panting heavily while they were barely standing. They had both taken tremendous damage from each other's attacks, and they both managed to form confident smirks on their faces before falling to the ground and losing consciousness.

Sting caught Lucy, as she fell, and Rufus managed to catch Minerva. That fight really was intense, and both girls were burnt, battered, bruised, and bloody from all of that fighting. The white dragon slayer held Lucy a.k.a. Reināre in a bridal-style fashion while smiling down at her, and Rogue picked up the orange spell book.

"Don't you worry about a thing, Reināre. You and Minerva are going straight to the infirmary for a good rest, after a battle like that. I was wrong to initially doubt you today, and who would've thought you would be a match for Minerva? Even though it was a draw, to me, you're the winner." Sting told her while smiling calmly, as he carried her into the guild and headed to the right elevator to get to the infirmary.

Rogue thought to himself with a stern look on his face while the orange glow from the spell book faded away, _"The fourth spell, Mud Molding. It molds any attack into the user's current thought, and it uses the power of the last attack used by either side, except power is exponentially increased. This language is very old, and it seems eerily familiar."_

* * *

**At the Fairy Tail guild…**

Wendy had seen the explosions coming from Castelia Town, and she looked worried about the thought of a guild war starting up soon. Speaking of strange, she hadn't seen Lucy for a while now. Where was the blonde mage of Fairy Tail?

"Chaos in Castelia Town, I guess." Cana said while chuckling, as she had been watching everything while drinking booze from a bottle before heading up the stairs into the guild.

"_Things have been strange lately." _Wendy thought to herself while following Cana into the guild, and letting out a small sigh.

* * *

**How was Chapter 10? Pretty much filled with action, am I right? Lucy's got quite the arsenal of spells now, and she'll revert back to her original form sometimes. What will happen when Lucy finds herself as a member of Sabertooth with Sting? Will she leave her old life behind? Will Wendy and Cana begin putting the pieces together? Standby for Chapter 11!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. Hiro Mashima does. This story was made for fun, and not for cash. (How unfortunate.)**

* * *

Lucy slowly opened her eyes to find that she was in a room that looked like the infirmary with many white beds, white walls, tiled floor, and a white desk that had a white medicine cabinet above it that obviously contained medicine and first aid kits. Upon looking down at the tiled floor, Lucy was shocked at what she saw in her reflection. Her hair was long and blonde again, her eyes had turned back to being brown like sweet chocolate, but she wasn't wearing any clothes. As she prepared to transform again, Lucy heard someone snoring softly nearby.

Sting had been sitting on a chair next to a small table by her bedside ever since the fight with she had with Minerva, which ended in a draw, resulting in both of them having serious injuries. When Lucy noticed that her opponent was gone, she sighed sadly at the fact that Minerva woke up first. Lucy wondered who had won the fight in the end, since she still remembered falling to the ground before blacking out.

"Good morning, Sting. Wake up, please." Lucy whispered in a gentle tone with a smile on her face while she rubbed his chest a little bit to make sure that he hadn't died in his sleep. The orange spell book was on the table, opened up to a page in the Earth Magic section of the book and it looked like some new spells had been written. Did they appear as a result of the fight?

Sting said calmly while opening his blue eyes and letting out a loud yawn before rising his arms high above his head, "Oh, you're finally awake. Man, Minerva was only asleep for two days straight while you slept for three full days. You must be hungry, so I'll get you some breakfast."

Lucy's brown eyes widened in amazement at what Sting had just said, and she seemed disappointed while still sighing sadly and lowering her head a little. She had been asleep for three whole days? That immense amount of magical power she used, combined with her injuries, definitely took its toll on her stamina. Looking at Sting for a moment, she trembled a little before she spoke.

"Who won the fight, Sting? Did I lose, after all that?" Lucy asked with disappointment in her brown eyes, as tears began to form. She had made a bet with Minerva that she had to let her join Sabertooth, if she won, and she had agreed to be Minerva's servant if she lost. A very risky bet, was it not?

"There's no need to cry about it, you know. I'm not surprised that an epic battle like that ended in a tie, so both of you won! Minerva told me about the deal you two made back at the hot spring, so you're going to be in our guild now! This is awesome!" Sting replied while smirking confidently, before hugging Lucy and wiping away her tears.

Lucy immediately felt a sense of relief and she blushed while getting out of bed and returning the hug to Sting. A warm feeling overcame her, as she felt him put his arms around her waist and stroke her back softly. She let her fingers slide up and down Sting's abdominals to feel how hard they were, and Lucy blushed a shade of hot pink when Sting softly kissed her forehead because he had been worried about her.

She thought that this was like a good dream, since she could now be in the same guild as her beloved Sting. However, there was one problem. What about Fairy Tail? Lucy knew that she couldn't belong to two guilds, one that she had been with for a while, which was rowdy, and one that would be new to her with its differences of possibly being strict.

Besides, what would her friends like Levy, Cana, Wendy, and Mira think if Lucy were switching over to Sabertooth? Would they think she was betraying them, and would Team Natsu hate her even more? Would everyone see her as an enemy, or would they be satisfied and be happy for her? She wanted to build up her chemistry with Sting, and she wanted to move on with her life. Her thoughts swayed from one guild to the other, and she found it difficult to really make a choice.

"Sting, I have some business to take care of back in Magnolia. I'll see you and the others when I get back. This won't take long, so save some breakfast for me." Lucy told Sting with a smile on her face, before making her middle and index fingers cross at a right angle to transform into Reināre again.

Sting told her while grinning again, "I have a lot of cash, so I'll go buy us some food to eat. The Restaurant District of Castelia Town is the best in Fiore, so I'll get something to please us both while you do whatever you need to do."

After picking up the book, Lucy turned to the section of the Darkness Magic spells and immediately used Dark Acceleration to move at quintuple the amount of her normal running speed. She quickly jumped out of the conveniently opened window in the infirmary, and Sting chuckled while seeing her create waves when she ran on the water.

* * *

**At the Fairy Tail guild…**

Lucy a.k.a. Reināre had arrived at the entrance to Fairy Tail, but then she felt like facepalming herself at the current situation. How would she make Lucy leave Fairy Tail, if she were currently Reināre? Then, she had remembered the time when she was in Fairy Tail's library to look for a spell book. One of the books she had put back on the shelf had been all about Magic that involved hand seals for transforming, clones, summoning scrolls, etc. She remembered what she had seen on the first few pages about Clone Magic and she took a deep breath.

Putting the index and middle fingers of her left hand near her temple while making a half-Ram hand seal with her right hand and putting it close to her chest, Reināre began to build up magical power. Would she be successful with this type of magic, like how she was with Transformation Magic?

In an instant, a white puff of smoke appeared next to her and she saw herself as Lucy wearing a simple white T-shirt and blue jeans while her hair was in a ponytail on the left side. She had a smile on her face while she looked at Reināre and walked up the stairs to the entrance doors of Fairy Tail. Since the clone had Lucy's personality, memories, and thoughts, this would be an easy task for her to accomplish.

Reināre checked her current attire, and she was wearing a crimson red and shoulderless gi-like shirt that was lowered enough to see some cleavage with loose arm-warmers reaching her upper arms and scarlet red spandex-shorts. She also wore a pair of black low-heeled boots with an olive-green tipping. To not make things awkward after the possible storm of shock, Reināre hid behind a bush and waited patiently for her Lucy clone to do her job.

"Hey, everybody! Lucy's back!" Mirajane announced with a smile on her face, as she saw her friend walking into the guildhall with a happy look in her brown eyes. She looked happy to see Levy, Gajeel, Cana, and Wendy sitting at a table, but fate made the unfortunate choice of having Team Natsu notice her first.

"Hello, Lucy. Has the strip club been too busy for you to show up to the guild this past week?" Lisanna asked her while grinning deviously at the girl she had replaced as Natsu's girlfriend.

"It's pretty obvious, Lisanna. She's so weak, and she wonders why we kicked her off of the team. A weak slut like Lucy can only get good pay at a strip club. No wonder she hasn't shown up. There's a daytime pole dance session!" Natsu added loudly while laughing and pounding his fist on the table when he found Lisanna's joke to be hilarious.

Lucy had a stern look on her face while ignoring the table of hecklers, and she strode her way up to the bar where Master Makarov was sitting on the countertop while drinking from a beer mug. She cleared her throat loudly to get his attention, prompting him to stop drinking and look at her.

"Hello, my child. Do you need someone to assist you, in order to stop going on jobs alone, perhaps?" He asked with a smile on his face while looking at her large breasts instead of her face.

"Actually, I demand that you erase my guild mark immediately. I want to leave Fairy Tail. There's just no reason for me to be here anymore, I've found a place where I belong. A place where I'm not ignored, and a place where I'm treated fairly." Lucy explained to him while showing Makarov the pink guild mark on the back of her right hand.

"Well, my child, if that is where you wish to go. It was good to have you in Fairy Tail, Lucy. Promise me you won't reveal any of Fairy Tail's secrets to anyone on your travels." Makarov replied with his arms folded while closing his eyes and looking stern.

"Wow, Lucy. You act like we care that you'll be gone, but we'll do just fine without dead weight." Natsu told her with a mean smirk on his face, before proceeding to give Lisanna a kiss for a new event to celebrate with her.

At that moment, Lucy narrowed her brown eyes and proceeded to walk out of the guild. However, upon hearing Natsu's words, she clenched her fists, turned to him and had something to say.

"You know what, Natsu? You and your stupid team can fall off a cliff, for all I care. To be honest, I haven't even thought about you anymore. Maybe that's because I'm too busy training and getting stronger while you just make out with your princess and spend all your time just being a rotten jerk. The guy that I'm in love with is much better than you'll ever be." Lucy replied with her brown eyes narrowed at Natsu, before spitting in his face.

"He must be really desperate, then." Erza said coldly, before stuffing an entire slice of strawberry cake into her mouth and glaring at Lucy.

"Sorry to disappoint you, Erza. My man has high standards, unlike Natsu since I once overheard you and Lisanna talking about how you two take turns sucking on his little candle flame every night. No wonder you two picked small over smart, because all three of your intelligence levels match perfectly." The blonde female responded with a cocky smirk on her face, before being dispelled into a puff of smoke.

Everyone had their jaws dropped at Lucy telling off Natsu and his team like they were weaklings. They had to wonder if she had gotten stronger, since nobody until now had the guts to tell off Erza. Was she improving so much that she was far above their level now? Everyone remained silent, until Gray came downstairs from the room where the library was located.

"What's with the cold silence?" He asked curiously while trying to figure out what everyone was looking at.

Reināre tried to stifle her laughter from what had just happened, but it felt good to tell off jerks like Natsu and Erza for what they had done to her. After all, they deserved it for kicking her off of the team and trying to prevent her from having contact with Sting. Why would she need to follow their rules of being hurt and alone when she could just leave the guild and be free to join Sting at Sabertooth?

Speaking of Sting, the sunlight made Reināre remember that she had to go back at meet him at the Sabertooth guild in Castelia Town. While she was severing her ties to Fairy Tail, Sting was supposed to be getting breakfast for her. Not wanting to keep him waiting with the food probably getting cold, she used the Dark Acceleration spell at triple her normal running speed while zooming across the water.

* * *

**Back at the Sabertooth guild…**

Lucy a.k.a. Reināre entered the guild to find Sting sitting at a table with breakfast from WcDonalds that consisted of pancakes, eggs, sausage, biscuits, and hash browns. He drank some sugary tea, and immediately put the cup down on the brown table when he saw Reināre walk in with a smile of pleasure on her face.

"Hey, beautiful. I got some breakfast for us like you requested, but I think we should eat it at your place. Your happiness tells me your errand went well, too." Sting told her while he grinned arrogantly, as he ate the entire stack of ten pancakes and let his fanged teeth chew them slowly with ease to savor their great flavor.

Lucy replied sweetly while going to sit in the chair across him and still smiling, "I quit being a Mage for Fairy Tail, since I'm going to be with you in Sabertooth. Natsu and Erza acted like total jerks about it, but I could care less for them. Still, you know my apartment is back in Magnolia. It would make no sense to eat our breakfast there."

Then, her now violet eyes widened in amazement when Sting explained to her how he had gotten breakfast immediately and had secretly gone to her apartment in Magnolia. Since the door had conveniently been left open, Sting decided to forge a letter in Lucy's name for the landlady to be informed that she would no longer be living there because she had found a new place to live.

Sting had to be joking around or something. He had really been nice enough to help Lucy find a place close to her present guild, and far away from the guild and the people of her past? Would she have to pay rent and buy furniture, instead of food? Where was her new residence located, anyway?

Either way, the white dragon slayer had planned some kind of a surprise for her and he immediately took her left hand in his before running out of the guild with her. Sting had to find some way to show Lucy his appreciation for her visit a few days ago, and he smirked confidently while they ran towards the path leading north to Nimbasa Town.

Upon arriving in Nimbasa Town, Sting ran all the way north with Lucy before they suddenly turned east towards Route 15 of Fiore. Lucy had run so far with Sting, yet she didn't feel out of breath in the slightest. Clearly, her training was paying off. When she saw where they were headed, Lucy a.k.a. Reināre had sparkles in her violet eyes.

* * *

They had arrived in Kurai Town, a sprawling metropolis with many large buildings and skyscrapers. It looked similar to Castelia Town, with its map of different districts and expensive looking businesses. Many of the townspeople wore clothing that only rich people would wear, causing Reināre to giggle happily and look delighted at the fancy department stores and take in the delicious aromas coming from food being cooked in various restaurants.

"Here we are, my sweet." Sting told Lucy while smirking as they entered into what looked like a hotel with its white walls and fancy black carpeting. There was a black reception desk in the middle of the lobby, and Sting asked the receptionist lady for a second key to the hotel room. Reināre's apartment was Room 456 on the fifth floor, prompting her to go into a nearby elevator with Sting and press the button with a '5' on it.

While they were in the elevator, the music for Black City from Pokémon Black Version and its sequel began to play as the elevator music. Reināre tried humming along with the music, getting the notes wrong, causing Sting to chuckle a little and make Reināre blush a deep shade of red.

"Sting, don't laugh! It's just so catchy to hum along to, that's all." She shouted defensively while just listening to the soothing music playing from somewhere in the air vent.

When they reached Room 456, she turned the key in the lock to open the door and find white walls with black carpeting, black armchairs, a white living room table, a gray flat-screen television, and a white sofa.

The dining room simply had a white rectangular table with four tall white leather chairs surrounding each side of the table.

In the kitchen area, there was a black pantry, a white fridge, a black oven, a white kitchen cabinet, and a black stove. The pantry and fridge were already stocked with food, and the kitchen cabinet was supplied with spoons, forks, knives, and other cooking equipment.

The bedroom had a large bed with a top half black and the bottom half white. The pillows were also in black and white, respectively like the desk and dresser on the left and right sides of it. Reināre's closet was filled with outfits that suited her, and her purple eyes were almost filled with tears of happiness.

* * *

Suddenly, Minerva teleported Orga, Rogue, Frosch, Lector, Jiemma, and Rufus into the living room and she had a triple chocolate cake with 11 lit candles on it. In the middle of the cake, white frosting spelled out the words, "Welcome to Sabertooth and your new home, Reināre! Next time we won't have a draw, understand?!"

"Look, you can thank Rufus for using Memory-Make Magic to create a cake like this. He even boosted up the delicious flavor for you, and I wrote the message. Be ready for that last part." Minerva explained while looking somewhat bored, as she watched her father sit down on the sofa and simply turn on the television.

"I bought this place, and Rogue bought most of the furniture. Orga brought the food, and Rufus bought all those fancy clothes for you. Well, all that time away had to give us a way to not waste it. It's all for you." Sting added while hugging Reināre, as she cried happily and smiled while kissing Sting's cheek.

She was overcome with joy right now at the fact that Sting organized all of this for the girl he loved. After rumors had spread of him being a pervert in the hot springs, he had to do something to make Lucy happy, and improve his reputation.

Minerva had the guild stamp and the color kit in her left hand and asked nicely while her frown turned into a small smile, "Where would our newest member like to have her guild mark, and in what color?"

Lucy remembered that Minerva had her blue guild mark on the left side of her waist during the Naval Battle last year, and she smiled a little. Since a harsh battle that ended in a tie had made them rivals, Reināre lifted up her crimson red gi-like shirt to show her navel area, and she wanted her Sabertooth guild mark on the right side of her waist and in the color purple.

"Listen, Sting. After I left Fairy Tail, one thing was finally confirmed in my mind. Natsu is my past, but you are my future." She said with a flirty smirk on her face in her sultry voice, as she rested her head against his chest and blushed pink like cherry blossoms.

* * *

As they looked into each other's eyes, they smiled and didn't notice that Rogue had smirked calmly and used his left hand to wipe some dust off the spell book that sat on the white table next to the cake. The book had suddenly turned black, in contrast to Lucy having a bright present and maybe even a brighter future.

* * *

**How was Chapter 11? Well, that's a lot more sweet and spicy StiCy chemistry! Lucy has officially left Fairy Tail and its mages behind, but what will happen if she has to see everyone at the upcoming Grand Magic Games? Will Wendy and Cana still be her friends, if she reveals the truth to them before then? Stick around for Chapter 12, and feel free to review!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. Hiro Mashima does. This story was made for fun, and not for cash. (How unfortunate.)**

* * *

It had been a week since Lucy had left Fairy Tail, joined Sabertooth, and arrived at her new apartment in Kurai Town. She had been going on jobs with Sting, and they had paid really well even though Lucy's new rent was only 35,000 a month now. Sting had also informed her that the Grand Magic Games were only a few months away, and his training with her needed to increase to levels that couldn't possibly be matched.

They were training at the beach near Humilau Town, a resort town that attracted tourists during the summertime with its department store, great waves for surfing, outside pools and many of the tourists had occupied the marvelous-looking villas atop the green grassy hills overlooking the sandy beach and the ocean.

Lucy thought to herself with a frustrated facial expression, after transforming into Reināre again while wearing a black bikini that showed off the cleavage of her breasts and the sexy curves of her behind, _"This is incredible! We can't even train, since the spell book turned black and probably made the spells black out and fall asleep!"_

She had read the black text of the eight spells in the book with strong confidence in her voice like how the other spells were triggered, yet none of the spells were coming out of the black book. Were the spells conditional, for them to not work like the others? What did Reināre have to do, in order to make these spells work?

"Just relax, all right? Don't get riled up over a few spells that come with a catch, since you need to give attention to the other types of magic. We're at the beach, so let's see how this book reacts to water." Sting told her with a cocky smirk on her face, as he stood across from Reināre while wearing only his white swim trunks.

Reināre held the black book in her hands, and she stretched her arms out to look like she was handing it to someone standing on the ocean water. Suddenly, the spell book turned blue and a blue glow began to radiate and pulsate from inside of it. Upon turning the pages to the spells with the normal blue and sky blue text, Reināre's violet eyes twinkled when she thought they centered around Water Magic.

Sting immediately unleashed his White Dragon's Roar attack from his mouth, and Reināre countered with the first spell that was known as Water Torpedo. In an instant, water from the ocean took the shape of a great white shark and it sped off towards the white laser beam. The newly created shark collided directly with the laser beam, and the two attacks canceled each other out whilst creating a miniature smokescreen.

"Pretty good for a first spell, right?" Reināre asked Sting with a happy smile on her face while giggling, slightly surprised that the 1st spell wasn't as weak as she had imagined it to be. Sting looked impressed as well, thinking that spell could make a good joke to play on people at the beach.

"Not bad for the presumably weakest spell of Water Magic, but how will you counter Holy Ray?" Sting asked while looking arrogant and releasing numerous white beams of light from his fingertips. They were all directed at Reināre, who simply narrowed her violet eyes while the blue book glowed again.

She used the second spell in the book, which was known as Bubble Shield. A large amount of small blue bubbles appeared in the air in front of her, and they all floated slowly towards the beams of light. Instead of bursting like ordinary bubbles when they made contact with Sting's attacks, the bubbles absorbed the holy rays into them, and fizzled them out. Then, they changed shaped into small blue drills of water and went towards Sting at a fast pace.

He leapt back, jumped, and backflipped many times to avoid the drills, as they created blue blasts of energy upon crashing into the sand. Thankfully, Reināre and Sting were the only two people on the beach right now. They both looked awestruck at this spell, seeing it as a good offense and a good defense when necessary. Were the spells of Water Magic going to be have such a great amount of versatility?

"Ever since that fight with Minerva, I've gotten stronger! All right, Sting! Prepare yourself because I'm about to show you what the third spell can do!" Reināre shouted confidently with a smirk on her face, as the blue book emitted a cerulean glow.

The third spell made a spiraling twister of blue water appear in the ocean, and it began to float up into the sky. Reināre looked utterly confused at the effects of this spell, wondering if its purpose was only to attack airborne enemies.

Sting looked like he wanted to laugh, but then his fast reaction skills helped him leap back quickly when five blue laser beams came down from the sky, and made blue blasts of energy occur on the beach. They had all honed in on him, but Sting simply kept dodging them all while he looked impressed.

"If I were you, I'd call that move Water Satellite Cannon. It looks like it can only be used in water, and it takes time to unleash its true effect. Well, that's enough training with water for now. The other spells might end up obliterating the beach, and I'm pretty sure neither of us wants to pay for damage of any kind." The white dragon slayer replied while arrogantly grinning, and dashing towards Lucy to give her a playful punch.

Lucy thought that Sting was trying to catch her off guard with his upcoming punch while he dashed towards her, and she narrowed her violet eyes before using the Clone Technique. A large cloud of white smoke filled the beach, prompting Sting to stop in his tracks and cough from the smoke.

* * *

When it all faded away, Sting nearly dropped his jaw at what he was seeing. Reināre had made seven clones of herself, each one posing seductively while wearing bikinis in different colors that showed off the beauty of their curves. They also had spell books in their hands, but each one was in a different color.

The Reināre wearing the brown bikini ran towards Sting, and immediately put her arms around his neck while looking flirtatious and exhaling her hot breath on to his left cheek. She put a finger to his lips, but quickly pulled it away when she began to speak.

"Sting, you're so handsome and strong. I can't even tell you how hot I feel when I'm around you. You're just so enchanting to me." She said in her sultry voice with a lustful look in her violet eyes, as her hands stroked Sting's chest slowly and softly.

"Well, well. I've certainly never seen this side of you before, Lucy. Instead of the Clone Magic dividing your emotions, I think the book reversed that logic and multiplied it. Honestly, I don't mind." Sting told the real Reināre while blushing a deep shade of red and smiling calmly, trying to hide the fact that this was turning him on a little.

The other clones ran towards Sting while laughing happily and blushing with loving looks in their eyes. They hugged Sting on all eight sides while giving kisses to his face and having their warm breasts pressed against his body.

The real Reināre dropped her jaw at how the clones of her were also falling in love with Sting. Even though her feelings weren't that deep yet, did the book have to increase the libidos of the clones for them to be all over Sting like a harem? Unsurprisingly, he was enjoying this defense mechanism that his companion had created.

When Reināre noticed that one of her clones wearing a pink bikini was blushing and licking her lips, her violet eyes widened in shock upon seeing the clone's hands reach for Sting's white swim trunks after accidentally brushing against something warm.

"_What the hell, you crazy book?! I am totally not ready to go there with Sting! He'll think I'm trying to put the moves on him, if this gets deeper!" _She thought while looking freaked out when Sting's white swim trunks were about to descend slowly, causing her to dispel all her clones immediately and run towards Sting.

"Well, that was kind of fun. I didn't know you had that much love for me, Lucy." Sting said calmly, before chuckling and hugging her tightly while taking in her wonderful scent of blue raspberry shampoo once again.

"Don't imply that I caused the actions of my clones, Sting! I didn't even know they would react like that upon seeing you, to be honest. Maybe the nature of the Clone Magic altered because of the book or something." Lucy replied while blushing and turning away from Sting while her heart palpitated wildly from one of her clones almost exposing Sting.

She didn't want anything escalating to a level like that, and Lucy knew that she and Sting had only kissed twice. They hadn't officially stated that they were boyfriend and girlfriend, since people always assumed it without knowing Sting and Lucy's feelings for each other may not be on the same wavelengths. Lucy remembered how her clone told everyone in Fairy Tail that she found a better man who could surpass Natsu, but did she really think Sting was the one?

The white dragon slayer had a puzzled look on his face, knowing how it was sometimes difficult to tell what his partner was thinking. Then, something came to his mind. He hadn't really talked about the Clone Magic to Lucy, and he knew the advantages it had. For example, if her and the clones did an hour of training together, the nine of them would actually be doing nine hours of training. Their strength would be added to Lucy's overall strength in spells, and in physical strength. However, the white dragon slayer's enhanced hearing allowed him to hear a soft and sudden noise behind a large rock.

* * *

Suddenly, Reināre found herself having to dodge Sting's White Dragon's Roar and she looked appalled that he would do something like that. Was he trying to hit her with a sneak attack?

"All right, I know you've been watching us the whole time. Come out." Sting said sternly, as his attack had landed next to a large rock with someone apparently hiding behind it. Who could possibly be eavesdropping on them? Sting wondered if it was Natsu, prompting him to almost activate White Drive if necessary,

Instead, much to Sting and Reināre's shock, Cana and Wendy came out from behind the rock wearing brown and blue bikinis, respectively. They had seen Reināre's training session with Sting, and they had heard every word that the duo had spoken. Would they snitch to the guild that Reināre was actually Lucy? Would they be like Team Natsu, and become her enemies with malevolent intentions?

"Cana… Wendy… You heard everything, and now you know.." Reināre told them with sadness in her voice, as her entire body trembled and tears formed in her violet eyes while she fell to her knees and sniffled softly. Would Cana and Wendy hate her now for being in disguise like she had been?

"Lucy, you were Reināre the entire time? Why would you pose as a new member, and then make your real body leave the guild?" Cana wondered, looking curious and also concerned for her crying friend.

"You don't have to worry about a thing, Lucy. We won't tell anyone that you're Reināre, I swear. You must've had a good reason to join Sabertooth, though." Wendy added with a smile, as she held her friend's left hand in hers and caught a glimpse of the purple Sabertooth guild mark on the right side of Lucy's waist.

Wendy and Cana had always been Lucy's friends ever since they had helped her out in the missions to defeat Oración Seis and take the S-Class Exam on Tenrou Island eight years ago, respectively. Not only that, but they had always seen the incident where drama occurred after Natsu cheated on Lucy with Lisanna and kicked Lucy off the team. No wonder she always had pain in her eyes, until it faded away one day.

Cana's brown eyes glanced over at Sting, who slowly turned away from the scene because he assumed she would be like all the others and reprove him for having Lucy in Sabertooth. After all, Cana probably could guess that Sting was the reason why Lucy had done what she did up until this point. Surprisingly, what Sting thought would be a death glare from her was a happy smile instead.

"She's been training a lot with you, I'm guessing. That's nice of you to take Lucy in like you guys did. You really saved her from probably committing suicide, after all the hell Natsu gave her." Cana told him in a calm tone while a smile appeared on her face when she could confirm that someone was taking good care of Lucy instead of her wandering alone through Fiore and ending up dead.

Lucy began to stand up, and she wiped away tears from her eyes when her friends had caring looks on their faces to show her that there were people in Fairy Tail who were kind and were concerned about her. She began to giggle, as Sting walked over to the three girls and hugged Lucy was behind.

"Wow, I am definitely sensing some chemistry between you two."

"Cana's right, Lucy. You two make a good couple, even if you are Reināre. Well, you have nothing to worry about. Cana and I will keep this whole thing a secret, since we spotted you two while we planned to relax here today." Wendy explained while she continued to smile at her best friend.

Hearing her stomach growl, Reināre immediately said her good-byes to Wendy and Cana while grabbing Sting's hand and using the Dark Acceleration spell to reach Castelia Town in only a matter of seconds at quadruple her normal speed.

* * *

**In Castelia Town…**

Reināre and Sting immediately walked into the Sabertooth guild, and received a death glare from Minerva for not showing up earlier. Apparently, Jiemma made an announcement for everyone in Sabertooth to train for the upcoming Grand Magic Games and he was going to pick the six strongest members in the guild. Reināre had a somewhat disappointed look in her violet eyes, knowing that it was highly unlikely that someone with Holder Magic would be chosen. If the item were gone, the person would be useless.

"You know that the Grand Magic Games are only a few months away, and you decide to go swimming instead. It's like you want us to lose to Fairy Tail again. I refuse to accept defeat this time, Reināre!" Minerva told them in a stern tone while she narrowed her green eyes and clenched her fists.

"Don't scold us, Minerva! I want to win just as much as you do, but Sting and I have to train in different places for my spells to work! We're both getting stronger day after day, so stop looking down on me! Our battle ended in a tie, so we're equals!" Reināre shouted defensively, glaring back at Minerva while ready to fight her again if necessary.

Minerva knew that using a spell book counted as Holder Magic, and that Reināre was nothing without her book. In the eyes of Minerva, Reināre was simply futile. If she didn't have Caster Magic spells, then how could she hope to actually prove her worth to the guild and not seem like a freeloader?

"You say that we're equals, yet that battle we had really proved that you didn't even know how to use your spell book to its full extent. Your physical strikes were only strong after enhancements, so you really are Sabertooth's weakest link right now. I guess you'll have to watch me win from in the spectator seats, Reināre-tan." Minerva replied in a condescending tone with an evil smirk on her face, before walking away and laughing about the fact that she thought Reināre was a complete loser.

Minerva's words made Reināre become angry, clenching her fists and her teeth tightly while growling softly. She had definitely considered Minerva to be her rival now, and she was determined more than ever to prove her worth to the Sabertooth guild. She also knew there was only one type of magic left for her to learn, which was the also-versatile Wind Magic. Reināre looked back at the spells in black, still wondering why they were unable to work and why they weren't triggered like how the others were.

* * *

Sting could see the angry look in his girlfriend's eyes, causing him to grab one of her fists gently and look her straight in the eyes before he spoke. Sting knew she was hungry, and he went to the snack bar to get her a slice of caramel cheesecake to eat. The white dragon slayer knew how sweets calmed down Minerva when her flared temper let loose, and he thought it would work on Lucy.

The slice of white cheesecake was covered in caramel sauce, and Sting put it on a plate before using a knife to cut off a reasonable piece of the slice and he shoved the slice into Reināre's mouth. She began to chew the delicious dessert, her mouth enjoying the rich caramel flavor and savoring the cheesecake when it seemed to be melting in her mouth.

"This tastes… so good! Sting, you cured a little bit of my hunger! Let me eat that whole cake, please!" She exclaimed happily with her violet eyes twinkling. Sting stepped aside, and watched his hungry lover cut up the slice of cake and eat it piece by piece. She even felt hungry enough to get seconds, thirds, fourths, and fifths.

Sting smirked and laughed a little, before remembering he accidentally took off his clothes in Lucy's apartment before they went to the beach this morning. He couldn't tell her that they would be going back to her apartment just for that, and he cursed under his breath for his careless mistake. However, he had ten replications of the same outfit in his room at the guild.

"Hey, Lucy. It's been a pretty eventful morning, so let's go take a nap. Well, I mean, if you want to." Sting told her while blushing at how her curvy body looked in that black bikini in her form as Reināre. Clearly, those clothes were the second thought on his mind.

"Sure, Sting! After all that training, and my clones making a harem, combined with Minerva's taunting, we both deserve to take a rest to cool off. We've slept together before, and I feel happy around you." Lucy replied with a happy smile on her face, as she got up from the chair and followed Sting to the elevator on the right of the reception desk, where bedrooms for guild members were located.

Sting could tell that Lucy was getting stronger, regardless of Minerva's opinion about her new rival using Holder Magic. The white dragon slayer remembered how Lucy had done so much for him, and he was going to help her unlock the black spells and find a way to turn her spells into the Caster Magic type. Maybe it would be successful, since he remembered a certain member of Sabertooth was returning from a job tomorrow.

* * *

**How was Chapter 12? Sting is determined to help Lucy become strong enough to participate in the Grand Magic Games, but is there really a way to turn her spells into Caster Magic? What will happen when she has her doubts about herself, though? Will beating Sabertooth's 6****th**** place mage give her a spot in the Grand Magic Games? Standby for the battle that will blow you away in Chapter 13!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. Hiro Mashima does. This story was made for fun, and not for cash. (How unfortunate.)**

* * *

Reināre had slept with Sting for the rest of the entire day yesterday, and she slowly opened her left eye to find her head on Sting's chest. He was still snoring softly, giving the raven black-haired girl the opportunity to gently stroke his arms and legs to feel how muscular Sting was. He had a smile on his face, as he slept, and Reināre had a light pink blush on her face when she saw how the opportunity to softly kiss Sting's lips stared her right in the face.

Sting's bedroom at the Sabertooth guild looked like a normal room with a flat screen television on a brown dresser, the large bed that Sting and his girlfriend were sleeping on, the bathroom, and the closet that had many replications of the white dragon slayer's usual attire. Clearly, that was his signature style.

Looking under the white comforter for a moment, Reināre gasped softly upon seeing that she and Sting were naked. Her black bikini transformation had dispelled, probably because she had been extremely tired after using up so much magical power with Water Magic. She looked at her large breasts, seeing them bounce slightly when she sat up in the bed and noticed that they were blushing a light shade of pink like her face. Had Sting unconsciously groped her with his hands?

"_I can't just wake him up and jump to the conclusion that we did anything while we slept! Sting would never be a pervert to me like that, right? He's a really decent guy, and if he did try to pleasure me in a little way, then he must've sensed how worried I am about the Grand Magic Games." _Lucy thought with a doubtful facial expression while she got out of bed and walked towards the window.

Even in her sleep, she could only think of the Grand Magic Games and how she needed to be there with Sting. Not only did she want to show her worth to Minerva and the Sabertooth guild, but she also wanted to show Sting the full results of her training. She wanted to hear him cheer her on, and she would do the same for him. Still, one thought continued to have itself fixated in her mind.

She used Holder Magic, which was the book of various spells, and she didn't want to admit that Minerva wasn't entirely wrong about what she said yesterday. Reināre hadn't completely mastered the book yet, and if it ever got out of her hands during a battle, then she would be rendered defenseless. Clenching her fists tightly with newfound ambition and a fierce look in her violet eyes, Reināre knew that her task today was twofold. She had to prove her worth to Sabertooth, and get chosen for the Grand Magic Games. How could she do that, though?

* * *

Then, Sting let out a loud yawn before stretching his arms and legs out while his muscles clicked and popped into place. His hand felt empty space on the bed, and he blushed madly when he turned to the window and saw Reināre in all her nude glory. His blue eyes widened in amazement at the girl who currently had her back towards him. She looked just as beautiful like at the hot spring.

"Uh.. Good morning!" Sting spoke with a flustered look on his face, before getting out of bed and going to his closet to change his clothes while trying to not make the situation awkward. He had put Lucy's spell book on the top shelf of his closet, and he set it down on the bed after retrieving it.

Reināre blushed a deep shade of red and replied nervously while transforming some clothes onto her body and looking somewhat timid with her back turned to Sting, "Good morning to you as well, Sting. Thanks, by the way, if you were trying to comfort me last night."

"I don't remember if I did, but you're welcome. Anyway, I don't know where we should train today. We should just get some breakfast and take a look at that spell book of yours. I know it's impossible for me to read a single word in that thing, but it wouldn't hurt for us to know the instructions for those black spells that don't seem to work." Sting replied with a cocky grin on his face, after getting all of his clothes on and turning to face Lucy a.k.a. Reināre.

She had used Transformation Magic to wear a pale green shirt, a sky blue skirt, purple high heels, and a red bow in her hair on the left side of her head. She had extremely good fashion sense, even impressing the people in the Fashion District of Kurai Town in her first few days of living there.

"Maybe there's a way for me to have the spells as Caster Magic, and then I wouldn't have to worry about anyone stealing the book! Today, we'll definitely find a way to do that." Reināre told him with a happy smile on her face, as she picked up the spell book and watched it turn green while a viridian green glow began emitting from the spell book.

Seeing this as a good sign, Sting and Lucy immediately smirked at each other confidently while they ran out of the bedroom and headed towards the elevator to go downstairs to the guild's entrance.

* * *

**Meanwhile…**

Rufus was drinking a delicious mochaccino from the coffee machine while sitting in a chair next to a voluptuous woman in between the ages of Reināre and Minerva. Her name was Arnett McMillan, the 6th-strongest Mage out of all the people in Sabertooth. Prior to Reināre joining Sabertooth, Arnett had informed everyone of her three-week job of traveling to a faraway land to eliminate a lot of dark guilds, and now she was finally back in Castelia Town with her best friend.

Arnett had back-length purple hair and bluish-green eyes. She had long sideburns reaching past her shoulder and bangs right above her eyes. She wore a simple white shirt along with a short red skirt and green high heels. Her facial expression seemed somewhat sadistic, seeing as she was still in the mood to fight and had a type of Magic that made her and Gajeel Redfox share similarities.

"I heard how the Grand Magic Games will be taking place soon, Rufus. Even though I'm the 6th place member of the guild, that still means I'm qualified to participate. Annihilating all the competition is going to be painful for the other teams, but it'll be fun for me. Before that, let's talk." Arnett explained while giggling and looking vicious while drinking her mochaccino.

Before Rufus could reply, Sting and Reināre came from the elevator and the former went over to him while the latter went to get some waffles from the waffle machine. Sabertooth certainly had everything, did it not?

Sting said with an arrogant smirk on his face when he saw Arnett sitting next to Rufus, "Well, you're finally back. It sure took you long enough, Arnett."

"Don't act impatient with me, dragon boy. I saw last year's events at the Grand Magic Games, you know. You can't do anything better than me because you forfeited in the chariot race and got your butt handed to you in the tag battle against Fairy Tail. Let's not forget the 5th day where you surrendered to them, too. Wow, so Sabertooth's loss is pretty much your fault!" Arnett shouted harshly with a deadly glare on her face, before pouring her hot coffee on Sting's head like he was a pathetic loser.

* * *

As Reināre finished letting the large stack of waffles fall on to the golden plate, she pressed the button for the maple syrup to cover the waffles in a delectable flavor while they smelled so good. When she turned around, her violet eyes widened in shock when she saw Sting wet with coffee and Arnett grinning sadistically.

Putting the stack of waffles down on a nearby table, she angrily dashed towards Arnett and punched her right in the face. Of course, this was unexpected so Arnett was obviously got off guard by the sudden attack. However, she wasn't knocked off-balance.

"All right, who's the punk that was dumb enough to do that?!" Arnett shouted with a harsh look on her face while her bluish-green eyes began to scan the room for her attacker. After a while, she looked directly in front of her to see that Reināre threw that quick punch like she didn't know who she was messing with.

"Don't ever harm my boyfriend like that again!" Reināre replied to Arnett with a serious facial expression, after using the Heavenly Healing spell to make Sting's hair, face, and clothes become free of coffee or its painful heat. Remembering how cruel Natsu was to her, she hated seeing the same sadistic cruelty when the genders were reversed like in this situation.

"I've never seen you in Sabertooth before, newbie, and using a spell book just tells me you use Holder Magic. You sure have some nerve talking to the 6th-strongest member of this guild like that! I suggest you apologize, before I have to get serious against a weakling like you." Arnett retorted while looking arrogant and wanting to laugh at the girl who opposed her.

"As far as I see it, you need to apologize to Sting." Reināre told her in a cold tone while turning the pages to the spells of Wind Magic that were written in green text.

Reināre immediately used the first spell, which caused her to unleash a spiraling gust of green winds from her mouth. The immense force of the winds sent Arnett flying backwards, and she coughed up some blood when she was slammed against a wall. The other Sabertooth mages gasped in shock at what was going on, even Minerva.

Arnett simply stretched her arms out in front of her while keeping her palms together, and she instantly made large ropes with large hooks attached to the ends of them. They were extending from the centers of her palms, and seven ropes emerged from each hand. She moved her hands upward to control the ropes, and they were high in the air. Then, Arnett jumped into the air and aimed her hands down at Reināre. She intended to slice her with the hooks while delivering fast punches to make a brutal combination.

However, something unexpected happened. Reināre unleashed the second spell known as Chaotic Cyclone, and it was a massive vortex of green wind energy. The other Sabertooth mages ducked for cover, and Arnett couldn't stop herself in time before being struck head-on with the intense wind attack. Her ropes and hooks were destroyed, and the enormous amount of power in Reināre's attack sent Arnett crashing through the wall while the wind vortex made a gaping hole in the side of the guild.

"Don't be so full of yourself because you got a lucky shot at me, newbie! Let's see if you can handle this! Metal-Make: Iron Snakes!" Arnett shouted viciously while smirking at her opponent, before slamming her palms down on the ground.

In an instant, ten large cobras emerged from underground and they were made of tough iron. They lunged at Reināre, who simply looked at the third spell in the green book and began to giggle confidently. Clearly, this next spell was going to be a very useful one in this situation.

The third spell was known as Air Vacuum, and it caused the violet-eyed girl to unleash a slow-moving green sphere of wind energy from her right palm. Arnett began to laugh at the pathetic attack, but then something certainly blew her away. Her metal snakes were being pulled towards the green sphere, and its wind abilities sucked them into the sphere one by one.

Each time the wind sphere absorbed a metal snake, it grew larger in size until it had grown large enough to mold itself into air and take the form of a large green triangle-shaped shield that floated in midair between the two girls with an emerald in the shield's center.

"_This is the opposite of my Earth Magic. Instead of taking in energy for a powerful attack, this one uses your opponent's power to create a great defense. Well, it's time to see what this shield can do!" _Lucy thought while looking confident, knowing that she could definitely get payback on Arnett for the way she treated Sting.

"A shield can be sliced through, idiot! Try to see if it blocks this, you stupid rookie! Metal-Make: Slicing Knives!" Arnett said sadistically with her bluish-green eyes narrowed at Reināre, and obviously getting frustrated that a new member of Sabertooth was making her look like a fool.

Arnett conjured up ten metal kunai knives in her hands, and she immediately threw them all at the floating shield of wind energy. They struck the shield, but then the kunai knives began to turn emerald green like the shield. It bounced the knives off, and they were reflected back at Arnett. She looked hesitant to even try and counter one of them with a spell, based on the effects of the other wind spells Reināre had used on her.

* * *

Suddenly, both her and Reināre looked extremely shocked when Minerva's wave matter surrounded the emerald green kunai knives and teleported them to a different location. She evilly smirked at both of the girls, mostly because she was the 1st place mage in Sabertooth and she outranked them both by a wide margin.

It was a good thing that Minerva got those kunai knives out of the guild, because everyone in Castelia Town heard and saw a large green explosion occurring in the sky above them. The explosion was strident and bright enough to be seen and heard by people in Magnolia, too.

"What is the meaning of all this noise?!" Jiemma asked in a stern tone while angrily looking at the damaged hotel lobby, as he walked out of the right elevator. Chairs were broken, vases had been shattered, tables were completely obliterated, and there was a gaping hole in one of the walls.

Jiemma saw Reināre's green book glowing before she could close it, and the guild master slowly walked over to her. Everyone looked intimidated at the sight of Jiemma staring down at Reināre, who began to tremble nervously at the guild's master tall and large stature.

"Are you responsible for this?" Jiemma asked harshly with a stern look in his eyes. Reināre hesitated to respond, her legs shaking with fear. How would Jiemma react to this news of two female mages fighting like they were in Fairy Tail?

The violet-eyed girl shouted loudly after gulping down some of her fear and looking a little confident, "Arnett purposely dumped her coffee on Sting's head, and I got mad because I care about him! I sent that evil witch crashing through the wall, and my Wind Magic made that big hole you're seeing! I'll just use Earth Magic to fix it, Master Jiemma!"

When Jiemma saw the green spell book emitting a green glow again, he immediately stepped back. With power to make a large hole like that, he could only assume that the book Reināre clutched tightly in her right hand was one that had been spoken of and written by a female wizard long ago in ancient times.

"Well, one thing's for sure. After seeing that, Reināre should be promoted to being the 6th-strongest mage in the Sabertooth guild. That would automatically qualify her for the last spot in our team for the upcoming Grand Magic Games, thus ousting someone useless like Arnett." Minerva interrupted while sounding harsh but looking at Reināre with a little bit of friendly rivalry in her eyes.

"You can't just kick me out of the team for the Grand Magic Games, Minerva! I didn't get to be the 6th-strongest mage in here because I surpassed a higher ranking member, so she shouldn't get it!" Arnett protested while looking fierce, as her glare alternated to Minerva and Reināre.

"Actually, she's proven herself worthy as my rival. Besides, Arnett, you only got to be the 6th-strongest mage after we excommunicated Yukino last year and caused you to move up a spot. In other words, Reināre earned the right fairly while you didn't." Minerva explained coldly to the protesting girl, before teleporting her away to some unknown location.

* * *

**Two hours later…**

Sting was so happy about Lucy being on the team for the Grand Magic Games, and he wanted to take her to a fancy ice cream shop in Kurai Town to celebrate this momentous occasion. While Lucy was eating her bowl of ice cream consisting of chocolate, peanut butter, and butterscotch flavors, Sting was trying to decipher the spells in black text. However, his efforts were to no avail.

Reināre a.k.a. Lucy wondered how Sting would turn her spells from Holder Magic to Caster Magic, despite it being probably impossible. Would there be a ritual of some kind? Would a spell cause the conversion? Did Sting and Lucy even have the slightest idea of how to start this conversion?

The white dragon slayer told his raven-haired lover after sighing sadly, looking a little frustrated, and putting a second spoon in the bowl to eat some ice cream, "I am really starting to hate this book, you know. I can't read these words in black, and I still don't know why the spells won't work."

Reināre placed her left hand on Sting's left hand, smiling and letting him know she was there for him if he should come across something that needed deciphering. She was able to read the spells, but what was preventing them from working?

The book had promised to give her power when necessary, and Lucy needed it to understand her feelings of wanting the spells to be in the form of Caster Magic. She didn't want to feel useless anymore, and Lucy needed to gain enough strength for the Grand Magic Games to make herself and Sabertooth proud.

"_Come on, you damn book! Lucy can read your black spells, so let her use them! Give her the strength to defeat Natsu when the time comes, please! If your spells react to her emotions, haven't you sensed her pain when she hates hearing about Fairy Tail on the news? Don't you understand how she needs your help to teach Natsu a lesson for treating her like trash? She hates him, and I mean she really hates him!" _Sting thought with a disgruntled facial expression, as a sphere of white light enveloped his right fist, before angrily slamming his fist against the book and keeping it there for a few seconds.

Suddenly, the words in black text began to glow with radiant black lights emanating from that first page. Had these spells reacted to Sting telling the book about Lucy's hate and pain? Reināre and Sting both looked surprised, causing Reināre to go around to the other side of the table and look at the amazing sight happening in the ice cream shop.

Then, the book began to emit a radiant glow in every color of the eight types of Magic and Sting was quick enough to press the book against Reināre's chest when this was happening so suddenly. He was determined to help her convert this Holder Magic into Caster Magic, so that Lucy would never have to feel fragile and weak ever again.

Reināre felt great warmth from the glows of the book's eight colors, and a wonderful feeling overcame her body. She gasped softly, and blushed a light shade of pink when she could somehow envision every spell for a few seconds. Was the book reacting to her heart?

When the shining lights faded away, Sting wanted to know if his girlfriend felt any different. She didn't feel any different, but the scarlet red color on the nail of the index finger of her left hand was certainly a change from before. It had the kanji for 'fire' on it, and Reināre took a look at her other nails. The index finger on her right hand had a nail that was sapphire blue, and it had the kanji for 'water' on it.

She exclaimed happily while hugging Sting, "My nails have the book's colors and powers! This is great, Sting! I can cast magic from my fingers now, instead of risking the book being my only source of magic! Thank you so much!"

"You're welcome. I guess you can finally read those words in black now, Lucy. I know you'll definitely mop the floor with Natsu at the Grand Magic Games, and we'll work together to beat everyone else! Thanks for what you did this morning, by the way." Sting replied nicely, arrogantly smirking and letting his hands rub her back.

Lucy couldn't hold in her feelings for Sting any longer, at this point. He had done so much for her, and he really was a much better guy than Natsu. Sting was like the missing puzzle piece that Lucy needed to feel happy inside, and she decided to thank him by pressing her lips against his with feelings of love and ambition. He had supported her, and Lucy wanted to let him know all of her feelings.

Sting returned the kiss, feeling sudden warmth that he wanted to enjoy. His lover's lips felt just as good as the other two times they kissed, and what he felt right now was the best passion of his life. Lucy was an excellent kisser, even as her sultry alter ego Reināre. She was so good overall, and Sting could only break the kiss before looking into her enchanting violet eyes. Both of them were blushing, and they also began to smile at each other.

"Let's go back to my apartment, Sting. With you having been drenched with hot coffee, and me feeling that warmth from the book, I think a hot shower would do us both some good." Reināre whispered in a sultry tone with a lustful look in her violet eyes.

Sting replied while casting his perverted feelings aside, "That actually sounds like the second-best thing I want right now. You know what's the best thing that I've seen lately?"

"What would that be?" She asked with a curious look on her face while beginning to put her right hand in his.

"It's you." Sting told her with a kind facial expression, before leaving money on the table for the ice cream and proceeding to carry his now-official girlfriend back to her apartment in a bridal-style fashion.

* * *

**How was Chapter 13? Sting and Lucy are now officially boyfriend and girlfriend in this story, and their chemistry is like a blossoming flower! The Grand Magic Games will occur soon, but what will happen when Sabertooth and Fairy Tail start preparing for them? Will drama strike, upon Mira noticing that a book is gone from the guild's library? Will heated history erupt? See what happens next time in Chapter 14!**


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. This story was made for fun, and not for cash. (How unfortunate.)**

* * *

Three weeks had passed since Sting had helped Lucy unlock the black spells in the book, and had converted them into Caster Magic to make things easier for his girlfriend. The Grand Magic Games were only two weeks away, and all of the guilds in Fiore had been training to the best of their abilities. Everyone had their eyes on the prize of 50,000,000 jewels, but Sting had a much more important goal.

He wanted to help Lucy teach Natsu a lesson for being such a jerk to her after he had cheated on her with Lisanna. Even mentioning either of their names to Lucy would make her have to remember them, and she despised the feeling of knowing that Fairy Tail would be at the Grand Magic Games. She anticipated that some of those guys would see her as an enemy, now that she was part of the Sabertooth guild.

Sting was talking with Lucy, who was in her form as Reināre, and they sat on the sofa in her apartment while looking at eight large bags of jewels that had come into Lucy's apartment overnight. Sting was certainly impressed and shocked, since he had been with her every day for the past two months. Where did all this cash come from?

"All right, I guess I'll have to tell you. I used the Clone Magic to make eight clones of myself take on tough jobs in Fiore every day. They've brought in so much income, and I found out when they use new spells or learn them that all the information is transferred into my brain as well." Reināre explained with a confident smirk on her face, before gently rubbing Sting's cheeks with her hands and giving them both a soft kiss afterwards.

The white dragon slayer looked ecstatic from the recent actions of his girlfriend, and excitement found its way into his blue eyes. He knew that today was the day where Jiemma would officially announce the members for the team that would represent Sabertooth in the Grand Magic Games, and he had heard nothing but success about Reināre from all the clients who had requested her for jobs. Sting might've helped too, with his constant boasting about how Reināre could tear anyone apart.

Sting replied calmly while getting off the couch and arrogantly grinning at his girlfriend, before holding out his left hand to help her up, "Not only that, but they've done so many hours of training. When you dispel them, all their energy is transferred to you. That increases strength in a big way, you know. I should mention something about spells. You can fuse them together to create even stronger attacks."

"Thank you, Sting! You're the best boyfriend ever, and I'll definitely remember your advice! All my different kinds of magic are so versatile, and it's mostly because of the bond we share and how hard we trained together! I'll make something for us to eat, and we can throw a party in the Sabertooth guild to celebrate if we're both chosen for the team!" She told him in her sultry voice, while walking to the kitchen and giggling when Sting's hands accidentally touched her breasts.

She wore a red vest top with the under-inside portion of her breasts exposed, along with her stomach, and she was also wearing an orange miniskirt with some yellow high heels to match. She always enjoyed dressing sexy for Sting, who could hardly take his eyes off of her. As she walked into the kitchen to make breakfast for Sting, the white dragon slayer shifted his attention to the black book that rested on the white living room table.

Lucy hadn't tested out any of the black spells, wanting to keep them secret for the Grand Magic Games if any mages from other guilds would be trying to eavesdrop on Sabertooth. She didn't want them knowing all of her various techniques, and Sting kept wondering what kind of effect they would have. Would they have the abilities of shadows like Rogue's spells, or would they be different in some way or form?

"_Ok, you crazy book. When the time comes, your spells better be useful to Lucy. I don't want to see her in a climatic battle, and have your spells fizzle out at a critical moment. You better give her some kind of great spells, just like the other types of magic." _Sting thought to himself with a stern glare, as he looked down at the book and remembered how it shined brightly in the ice cream shop.

Lucy had a smile on her face, as she watched the many strips of bacon, many sausages, and many eggs begin to cook in the large frying pan. She put four strawberry-flavored waffles in the toaster, her violet eyes twinkling happily when the toaster began to heat up the waffles. She was really enjoying her new life in Kurai Town, especially since it had almost everything and included a hot spring district.

While she was peaceful, how was her old guild Fairy Tail doing without her? It's not like she would be missed by most of the guild, anyway, and they probably didn't even have a sign that she was gone. The guild was obviously preparing for the Grand Magic Games, so what could possibly be out of the ordinary?

* * *

**At the Fairy Tail guild…**

Mirajane had just returned from keeping record of the books checked out in the upstairs library, and she took over the job of barmaid from Cana. Makarov was drinking some beer from a mug while looking confident that Fairy Tail would win again in this year's Grand Magic Games. Just like last year in X791, two teams from Fairy Tail would participate to try and achieve 1st place.

"Hello, Mira. I see that you're done checking all the books in the library. Everything is in order, I assume." He said calmly, taking a sip of his beer before looking at the white-haired girl in front of him.

Mirajane replied nicely while smiling, as she was cleaning a mug with a white rag, "All the books were accounted for, Master Makarov. Well, there seems to be an inconsistency. One of the books in the records was probably checked out, so there's really nothing to worry about."

"What book might that be?" Makarov asked out of curiosity, still drinking his beer and getting ready to swallow it.

Mirajane happily handed him the record sheet that had the name of every book in Fairy Tail's library written down on it, and there were check marks next to the title of each book if the book had been accounted for. However, mysteriously, one book was unaccounted for. Makarov's eyes scrolled down the long list, and he nearly choked on his beer when he saw the name of the book that Mirajane couldn't find.

"It's gone! That book is missing! I can't believe that someone would take that book, out of all the spell books! Mira, how did this happen?!" He asked while looking freaked out and sounding utterly astounded that a certain book was missing.

His outburst got the attention of everyone in Fairy Tail, including Team Natsu. They walked over to the bar, wondering what was troubling their guild master so much to shock him like this. The book was either very important, or it was some kind of forbidden book that was not to be read. Makarov and many other old people certainly knew about this book, but what bothered him so much about it?

"Gramps, what's so bad about a book being missing? Can't you just buy another copy?" Gray asked with a calm look on his face, trying to understand the situation.

"There is no copy of this book, and there's a reason why! That book has spells in it that contain massive amounts of power, and the book itself isn't even in a modern language!" He explained sternly, hoping that book wasn't in the hands of a dark guild.

"Then, there's no reason for us to give a damn about it. You just said that no one could probably read the book, so it's basically useless to anyone who has it. Don't get so worked up over a stupid waste of pages, seriously." Natsu said with his arms crossed, and looking bored about the whole thing.

Makarov told him sternly while making his left hand bigger to pull Natsu by his scarf and be face to face with the fire dragon slayer, "That book has so many restricted spells contained inside of it, Natsu. I'm sure you don't want to know that the book has a malevolent curse that allows it to choose its master from what it senses, either."

"The book itself is able to do that?" Erza asked, looking utterly appalled that someone would even make a book like that.

Lisanna told Makarov with a happy smile on her face, before hugging Natsu from behind, "Well, don't worry. We'll get that book back, and we'll stop whoever's fooling around with it."

"We don't even know where to start looking for it." Erza reminded her with a glare on her face, before requipping into her Black Wing Armor and flying out of the guild to start her search from the skies.

Lisanna used her Take Over ability to turn her arms into wings while retaining the rest of her human features, and she carried Natsu over the sea to search in Castelia Town. That left Gray with the idea to make a bridge out of ice blocks, and he simply followed everybody else.

* * *

**At the Sabertooth guild…**

After Sting and Reināre had finished eating their breakfast, they had arrived just in time to see Jiemma standing behind the reception desk and they made their way to one of the tables where Minerva, Rogue, Rufus, Orga, Frosch, and Lector were sitting. After everyone sat down, Jiemma cleared his throat and began to speak.

"You've all trained very hard, from what I've seen and heard in reports from clients that requested many jobs, and I've made my final decisions for the team that will represent Sabertooth in this year's Grand Magic Games. Just to let you know beforehand, if this is your first time participating, failure to win will result in punishment." Jiemma explained sternly, as he folded his arms and glared at all of the mages who awaited the results in anticipation.

Reināre looked somewhat nervous, realizing that she was still Sabertooth's newbie, and her hands trembled a little. She wanted to be there with Sting, and she had promised him that she would stop crying and she had kept her vow to become stronger and never be a burden ever again. Not only that, but Minerva was her rival now. If she could do well, then Reināre told herself that she could do just as good.

Minerva looked at the violet-eyed girl for a second, and then scoffed at her before turning back around to face Jiemma for the announcing of the members. Reināre growled softly and clenched her fists upon seeing Minerva deride her once again, and that only fueled her determination to not lose to her even if they were on the same team. However, would she be one of the six mages chosen for the Grand Magic Games?

Sting gave her a comforting smile, knowing that she would definitely be selected after coming to a draw in a fight with Minerva, nearly destroying Arnett, and doing tons of hard jobs to make her name known throughout Fiore. Besides, everyone else besides Minerva saw Reināre as top-notch.

"The six who will represent Sabertooth are going to be Minerva, Rogue, Sting, Orga, Rufus, and Reināre. This year, I expect you to not hold back and be foolish like last year. Every one of you, excluding my daughter, better win or don't even think of coming back here." Jiemma sternly told the group with a fierce look in his eyes while he folded his arms and walked towards the right elevator to presumably go to his office.

"It looks like we're both competing, Reināre. Hopefully, I won't have to make up for any of your losses. At least if you have to battle first, then I'll just take over after you lose and win everything else. You'll certainly do your job of getting humiliated." Minerva told her in a condescending tone with an evil smirk on her face, as she walked around the table to Reināre's chair and couldn't resist the urge to put a finger to the girl's lips to prevent her from speaking.

Reināre responded harshly, pushing away Minerva's finger from her lips while looking determined, "Minerva, don't underestimate me so quickly. I'm going to pulverize the other guilds, if the survival tournament happens like last year, and then I'm coming after you!"

While everyone else decided to throw a big party to commemorate the six mages who were selected for the Grand Magic Games, Minerva and Reināre found themselves respectively restrained from attacking each other by Rufus and Sting. Hopefully, those two fierce women wouldn't be in the tag battle together.

* * *

**20 minutes later…**

Reināre and Sting were finally alone at the table, since everyone else was busy doing other things. Sting had put a three-layered cake on the table, and it had vanilla frosting on the outside with creamy chocolate on the inside. He looked happy that his girlfriend would be competing alongside him during the competition, and Sting knew that they would both do great.

"Sting, thanks again. It's because of you that I learned how to stand up for myself, and I've become confident like you." Reināre said with a happy smile on her face, as she cut a slice of cake and put it on her plate.

She could only blush while looking into his eyes that were like a calm blue sea, and they were so enchanting. Her feelings had grown a lot for Sting, and maybe her clones had something to do with it. When they got a boost in their feelings, their energy was always transferred back to her. However, that wasn't entirely the case. Her chemistry with Sting was like a love song, and all the notes flowed together in harmony.

"You're welcome. I'd always help out the woman I care about, you know. I was a total jerk last year, but things changed for the better when I met you. Ever since we began our training, my attacks got stronger and I started getting faster. You benefit me, and I'll always do the same for you." Sting replied nicely while seeing her eat and using his finger to wipe some white frosting off of her left cheek. He licked it off of his fingers, making Reināre giggle a little. She was about to purposely kiss his lips to put frosting on them, but the sound of Sabertooth's entrance doors being kicked open certainly halted her plan.

* * *

Sting quickly turned his head to see that Team Natsu had just barged into the guild, and Natsu looked angry. What could they possibly be here for, and what could be so upsetting to them? Lucy could only wonder if Cana and Wendy had let it slip, and the people she hated the most had come to retrieve her. She began to tremble slightly upon seeing the flames that appeared on Natsu's fists, reminding her of that nightmare she had quite a while back.

"This is the only place in Castelia Town that we haven't checked! We know how much you bastards hate us, so give it back!" Natsu exclaimed with an angry look on his face, as he glared at everyone in the guild's lobby while intending to find what he was looking for.

"Go away, Salamander. We don't do business with idiots, and we're preparing for the Grand Magic Games." Sting told him in a cold tone, as his fists became enveloped with white light.

"Shut your mouth, you damn bastard!" Natsu yelled fiercely, before punching Sting in the face and sending him crashing into a nearby wall while continuing to strike him with his flaming punches.

Sting fell to his knees, and he was coughing up blood while being badly burnt. He didn't want Reināre getting hurt, and he gestured at her to run past the members of Team Natsu while she still had the chance. Upon seeing her look at the purple nail on the middle finger of her right hand, and from seeing it glow, Sting let out a small sigh of relief from seeing her use Dark Acceleration at quintuple her normal speed.

However, both him and Natsu were shocked when Reināre reappeared in front of Sting and gave Natsu a dense as steel punch to the face before following up with a kick that propelled him into the air. Reināre appeared above him, after coming out of a small spark of lightning, and she grabbed the fire dragon slayer's neck while they descended and she proceeded to slam him down into the ground and bash his head against the floor repeatedly.

Reināre told him in a cold tone with revenge in her violet eyes, before turning away to heal Sting, "Don't ever attack my boyfriend like that, you idiotic jerk. If he ever dies, then I'll make sure that you die."

Lisanna said calmly while running over to Natsu's aid to see his wounds, "We're just here to look for a book that went missing from Fairy Tail, so don't get upset."

Reināre's violet eyes widened in shock, but then quickly became fierce with anger. Not only was Team Natsu looking for the book, but Lisanna had just told her not to get upset? That's like when she said how she hoped that Lucy wasn't mad about Natsu kicking her off the team and replacing her with Lisanna. After all the hell they had given her, and for what Natsu just did to Sting, Team Natsu was going down.

The raven-haired girl fired a yellow orb of lightning with yellow sparks coming off of it from her left palm, and it quickly struck Lisanna while also creating a large yellow blast of lightning in the process. She was sent flying, along with Natsu, towards Erza and Gray. They were caught off guard when a blue sphere of water energy with blue water coming off of it and a green orb of wind energy with green winds coming off of it struck them both in the chests. Respectively from the blue and green attacks, Erza and Gray were sent flying out of the guild with immense force while carrying their teammates into the sky with them.

* * *

Turning away from the blue and green explosions that shortly occurred afterward, Reināre quickly ran over to Sting's side and used her Heavenly Healing spell on him. In a matter of seconds, he looked perfectly fine as if the damage had never happened.

"Couldn't you take them on for real, instead of ending it so quick?" He playfully asked while smiling, and going back to the table to finish eating the delicious white cake.

"You know how much I don't like Natsu for what he did, and I wasn't even using my full power to blast him and the cheerful princess out of here. Don't worry, Sting. The Grand Magic Games is where this will all finally be settled, with Fairy Tail losing more than just the competition." Reināre replied coldly with a harsh look in her violet eyes, before trying to brush her dark thoughts aside and enjoy the fact that she was now on the competing team with the guy who could always make her present and future better than her past.

* * *

**How was Chapter 14? Lucy and Sting will both be competing in the Grand Magic Games, which will finally happen in the next chapter! Can their chemistry help them win, and what will happen in the contest to decide the best guild in Fiore? What kinds of new spells does the book have up its sleeve? Find out in Chapter 15!**


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. Hiro Mashima does. This story was made for fun, and not for cash. (How unfortunate.)**

* * *

Team Sabertooth had arrived in Crocus on the day of the preliminary round that would decide the eight teams that got to participate in the real competition tomorrow, and Lucy a.k.a. Reināre had a happy smile on her face. Upon seeing the many flowerbeds and flower shops on a street that the team was walking down on their way to the inn that was located in the Crocus Gardens, she ran over to a flower pot that had red roses growing in the soil. Reināre sniffed them deeply to take in their wonderful aroma, letting out a blissful sigh from the sweet scent.

Minerva told her in a rude tone with a deriding look on her face while scoffing once again and tapping Reināre on her left shoulder, "It's funny how opposites attract, you know. Those red roses have the sweet smell of victory, so your blue raspberry perfume must be the smell of defeat. Well, that's more unsurprising than funny."

"Don't be so quick to label me as a loser, Minerva! I watched the Grand Magic Games last year, and the tournament goes on for five days! When that final day comes around, you might change your opinion of me!" Reināre replied defensively, as she narrowed her violet eyes at Minerva and was close to using one of her spells to obliterate the sadistic witch.

However, Sting stretched his arms out between the two girls and reminded them that they were on the same team and they should focus their hatred off of each other and slam it down on the other teams. Besides, Sting knew that Fairy Tail didn't win the Grand Magic Games fairly on that 5th day. The fact that they had a strategy where they could easily find their opponents and have the odds in their favor seemed really suspicious. He wasn't going to let them win this year, after what Natsu had done to Lucy.

Reināre checked her appearance in the reflection of a glass window, and she smiled when she noticed that her light purple shirt and her short black skirt looked just as fashionable as her purple high heels. She was about to walk past Minerva and Sting, until she felt a pair of arms wrap themselves around her waist. She blushed slightly, feeling Sting's abdominals when he pulled her close to his chest and handed the black spell book to her.

"Don't let Minerva's taunts rile you up so much, ok? She may not show much likeness towards you, but in her own way she's trying to encourage you to do well and make Sabertooth proud. We all want to win in the end, so let's give it our best efforts, and we definitely won't lose to Fairy Tail." Sting explained in a calm tone, before kissing his girlfriend on her right cheek and loving her blue raspberry scent like he always did.

Seeing that Minerva and the others were gone, since she obviously teleported to the inn with them to get away from the pacifistic and romantic situation, Reināre and Sting both smiled and blushed a light shade of pink. Realizing that they were alone and looked like a happy couple, and since the preliminary round occurred in a few hours, what could be better to do in Fiore's capital than go sightseeing and eating at restaurants?

* * *

**Meanwhile…**

The two teams representing the Fairy Tail guild had entered into Crocus, determined to make Fairy Tail win once again. Team Fairy Tail A consisted of Natsu, Erza, Gray, Laxus, Gajeel, and Juvia while the others who were known as Team Fairy Tail B consisted of Wendy, Cana, Elfman, Lisanna, Mirajane, and Jellal. (In this story, Jellal is not a criminal anymore and Ultear admitted to being the one who was responsible for his crimes.)

"I'm fired up, guys! Let's burn down the competition, and win this like we did last year! Sabertooth is going down again, and I'll make sure of it! Even if they didn't have the book, they had no right to blast us out of their guild like they did!" Natsu exclaimed with a fierce look on his face, before laughing confidently and annoying Gray.

"That was their territory, you hotheaded idiot! I don't even think they would steal a book from us, so we got our butts kicked back then for nothing! Honestly, I'm sure Lucy would've kept you from nearly getting us all killed!" Gray shouted in a scolding tone while using ice to chill his left shoulder because it still felt pain from the explosive wind energy that injured him greatly two weeks ago. Thank god that Wendy healed him before any severe aftereffects could transpire.

Natsu said with a smirk on his face, as he ran to hug Lisanna and kiss her lips, "Gray, I'm sure that no one needs that useless piece of crap. Besides, Lisanna's not boring and weak. She keeps me happy and entertained. Lucy can't do anything, so who really cares if she's dead in a ditch or being held captive somewhere?"

When they heard his unkind remarks, Cana and Wendy could only look at each other and sigh while they knew perfectly well that Lucy was fine and she was definitely safe with a guy who actually saw all of her good points. Sting really appreciated her, unlike the ungrateful Natsu. Both girls could agree that one dragon slayer's trash was another dragon slayer's treasure.

Before anyone could go sightseeing, Erza suggested that they all go to their inn and get everything settled. As soon as everything was done, then they could have fun. Choosing to not get beaten to a pulp, Natsu and Gray agreed with her and told everyone else to follow Erza to the inn where Fairy Tail was staying.

* * *

**At a concession stand…**

Sting and Reināre had purchased some boxes of rice balls and noodles, respectively covered in hot mustard and hot sauce to give them an extra boost in flavor. They sat down on a park bench nearby and opened up their black bento boxes to eat their food. Sting bit into a mustard-covered rice ball, only to immediately have a look on his face that told his companion that getting hot mustard on his rice balls gave it a good taste but it was a bad idea.

Reināre used her chopsticks to pick up some of the noodles, and she slurped them into her mouth while enjoying the delicious taste of the noodles covered in hot sauce. Her tongue savored the salt and the pepper, obviously wanting more. To make this fun, Sting turned it into an eating contest by eating three rice balls at once.

"Man, those are hot! That mustard is definitely giving them a boost in the taste, though." Sting said nicely with his mouth full, before swallowing again and feeling the spicy mustard dance on his tongue for a few minutes.

"These noodles are working well with the hot sauce, too. I guess that's why people say Volcano Sauce makes food a whole lot better if you can take the heat." Reināre replied with a smile on her face, before chewing some noodles and feeling the hotness once again.

Both mages were feeling the spiciness of their food, and their mouths felt like they were on fire after finishing all of their food. Luckily, they were quick to drink from their two large cups of Coca-Cola to douse the spicy taste and replace it with fizzy sweetness. After a few seconds, Sting and Reināre burped simultaneously. They blushed at each other, but then they chuckled and giggled.

"I've been meaning to ask for quite some time now, but whatever happened to those golden zodiac keys you had before we met?" Sting asked curiously, having noticed this but didn't want to ask if they reminded her of her adventures with Natsu.

"Well, it may seem like a stupid explanation if I tell you. I wanted to forget my past, honestly. The day before you bought me that new apartment in Kurai Town, I looked up Yukino's new address and I mailed my keys to her with a letter explaining everything. Breaking my contracts with my keys wasn't an easy decision, but my spirits just reminded me of when I was weak and had to rely on them all the time." Reināre explained with a somewhat sad look on her face, as she looked down at the ground and sighed.

Sting responded in a comforting tone while giving his violet-eyed girlfriend a warm hug, "I understand where you're coming from, and there's no need to worry. We're going to win this competition, and no one will ever call you weak again. After all, you have eight types of Caster Magic at your disposal. That's far from weak, in my opinion."

Lucy could only smile happily at the fact that Sting was always picking her up when she was feeling down, and she gave him a passionate kiss while pressing her lips against his and closing her eyes while she blushed. Sting was slightly caught off guard by the sudden kiss, but then he returned the kiss and enjoyed the feeling of her lips.

* * *

**(Note: This part contains lemon.)**

The white dragon slayer closed his eyes, and he could envision himself running through a beautiful meadow of flowers to hug his girlfriend from behind. She playfully fell into the flowerbeds with Sting on top of her, and he was shirtless. He began to kiss her neck softly, causing Lucy to blush cherry red while she let out a happy sigh of pleasure.

Sting's hands had a mind of their own, as they removed his girlfriend's light purple shirt to discover that she wasn't wearing a bra underneath it. Her large breasts were in his view, and Sting couldn't stop himself from moving his face from her neck to her breasts. He fondled her left breast slowly with gentle ease in his left hand while taking her right nipple into his mouth to give it a soft suck. His right hand caressed her stomach area while he felt how smooth and soft her skin was.

"Ohhhhh…. Ahhhhh…. Sting, you're so good at this. Your hands are so gentle, really. Please kiss me, my love that uses the magic of light." Lucy told him while she began to elicit a soft moan, as she continued to blush and blissfully look at the wonderful guy who was on top of her.

He answered her request without hesitation, and he made his lips touch hers with a soft feeling that slowly escalated to something wonderful. His tongue went inside her mouth, wanting to explore it and taste the sweetness of the sugary treats that she normally ate. Sting and Lucy were both blushing, as this was going on, prompting them to let their hands do the talking since their lips were pressed together.

Sting's hands stroked Lucy's now black hair, and his hands pulled off her black skirt to reveal a neatly trimmed black field of hair surrounding her beautiful womanhood. She looked at him with a smile on her face, as she unzipped Sting's pants for him and pulled them down to reveal his erect member.

They both smiled at each other, and Lucy gave Sting permission to enter her sacred area. Since this was his first time, he gulped a little and looked at her with a confident smirk on his face. He slowly pressed his body down on her to where his abdominals were brushing against her navel area, and his blue eyes widened in amazement when he was about to go inside Lucy.

"You're the best, Sting." Lucy told him in her sultry voice as Reināre, as she gave him a seductive look and rubbed his member softly to try and give him a sense of comfort before sharing a loving kiss with him as she felt the tip of him enter inside her with a soft thrust.

* * *

**In reality…**

Sting quickly snapped out of his erotic fantasy to find that Reināre had broken the kiss for a moment and held his right hand in hers. She looked happy, her violet eyes twinkling like stars when nighttime occurred. When Reināre let out a slight giggle, Sting noticed that his girlfriend was blushing hot pink and his left hand was caressing the left cheek of her rear in a soft manner.

"Oh, man! That was totally not intended! My hand just dozes off sometimes, and needs a nice area to sleep!" He exclaimed while quickly pulling his hand away and turning away from her as he looked extremely embarrassed and thought she was about to slap him.

"It's fine. I know that you feel embarrassed by your perverted actions, but it's ok. You're still getting your libido under control, like how I'm trying to control my clones when they see you. Love is a powerful thing, and I'll always understand your heart." She replied in a sultry tone, before sighing happily and resting her head against his chest.

At that moment, Sting knew that he really could trust himself when he was in a perverted situation or having an erotic daydream. Lucy hadn't beaten the crap out of him for what his hand had done because she put her complete trust in him, and she knew Sting wouldn't cross any risky lines in their relationship.

A smile of confidence made its way on to his face, as he locked his calm blue eyes with her relaxed violet eyes and slowly stood up with her. They had already spent an hour in the park, and both mages agreed on walking to Sabertooth's inn that was located in the Crocus Gardens.

On the way to the inn, however, Sting suddenly stopped. He remembered that he had bought something while he was sightseeing with Lucy, and he pulled it out of the left pocket of his pants. It was a pink bow, around the size of the bows his girlfriend normally wore in her hair, and he gave it to her.

"I bought it when you weren't looking, so it's a special surprise for you." Sting told her while posing like a hero, as he winked with his left eye and handed it to her.

Lucy a.k.a. Reināre responded with joyfulness in her voice while she blushed again and smiled, "It's so beautiful, Sting! I'll cherish this gift forever!"

She put it on the right side of her head, and Sting gave her a thumbs-up when she asked him how she looked with the new bow in her hair.

* * *

**Two hours later…**

All of the competing teams stood out on the balconies of their inns, as Lacrima Vision screens came up and showed the face of Mato, the mascot for the Grand Magic Games. Since it was a new year, everyone wondered if everything would be completely different. How would this preliminary round work? Suddenly, everyone felt their inns lowering themselves into the ground and going deep into the darkness.

When the sounds of magical tunneling and digging ceased, everyone got light from the Lacrima Vision screens that featured Mato again. Upon seeing a labyrinth with a purple radiance from the water, many people groaned in frustration and wondered how it was different from the Sky Labyrinth event.

"Out of the 112 competing teams, only eight will be allowed to compete in the Grand Magic Games. You simply have to go through this maze that was created over a purple poisonous swamp. Any kind of magic is allowed, but you better be careful. When the swamp wants to flush you out, then hold on tight!" Mato announced while smiling, before he vanished with the Lacrima Vision screens.

Minerva was about to explain the strategy for finding the exit that they needed to reach, but then she gasped in shock upon seeing Reināre put the middle finger of her right hand into the purple, bubbling, and poisonous water. Her purple nail had the kanji for 'darkness' on it, and the water began to transform into a spiraling purple twister of Darkness Magic.

"It's one of my spells of Darkness Magic, Minerva. I call it Darkness Twister, and it's got a few uses." Reināre explained with a confident smirk on her face, as she turned to face her teammates and then turned back to the purple twister.

She ran right into it, prompting the other members of Team Sabertooth to follow her. Minerva thought this was crazy, as she and her team were suddenly lifted into the air, but then she was wrong. In an instant, the twister reacted to the black spell book and it threw Reināre and her teammates into a hole that was in the maze's center.

"Where are we?" Orga asked while looking puzzled, as he looked around to see nothing but rock walls and a wide metal door with two handles nearby.

Minerva quickly opened the door, to see a bright light and Mato standing in the doorway with a smile on his face while he started dancing around.

"Congratulations for being the first ones to arrive, Team Sabertooth! You can be in the Grand Magic Games tomorrow!" Mato announced to them in an excited tone, as he continued to smile excitedly.

"_All right! I made it to the Grand Magic Games, and I'm going to show them all that I'm planning to win! Watch out, Natsu and Lisanna! You're about to experience my real power during these five days!" _Lucy thought with a determined facial expression, before going through the door with the rest of the team.

* * *

**How was Chapter 15? Team Sabertooth made it past the entry round, but who else will join them? Will there be a devious team like Team Raven Tail, and will Fairy Tail be competing on the first day as well? What kind of event and battles will occur? Standby for Chapter 16!**


	16. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. Hiro Mashima does. This story was made for fun, and not for cash. (How unfortunate.)**

* * *

The six members of Team Sabertooth were eating breakfast at a restaurant in Crocus, and the first day of the Grand Magic Games had come around. Just like last year and the past years, everyone anticipated that they wouldn't know anything about the events or battles until they were announced. That really made it hard to form a surefire strategy, but what could they do about it?

Everyone sat around a white round table on the restaurant's wooden patio, and they were all eating waffles in different flavors with various toppings on them. Lucy was still disguised as Reināre, looking happy with a smile on her face while using her knife and fork to slice up her large waffles that were covered in maple syrup and eat one piece at a time. She knew that breakfast was the most important meal of the day, especially for battles that would probably be intense.

She wouldn't be surprised if one of Fairy Tail's competing teams had gotten the last spot in the real competition like last year, and she was determined to beat both teams representing Fairy Tail. The confidence could tell anyone that she wouldn't let Natsu or Lisanna win against her, and she certainly wouldn't go easy on the other members of their teams.

However, her thoughts were interrupted by the sounds of cheering and boasting from Sting and Lector as they sat next to her and shared a plate of blueberry waffles. It was pretty obvious that they were just as psyched for the tournament as Lucy was, causing her to giggle a little.

"All-right, Sting-kun! Let's show everyone that you're the strongest wizard in Fiore, and make Sabertooth proud!" Lector told him with an encouraging facial expression, before eating a piece of a blueberry waffle and chewing it slowly.

"That's right, Lector! We're going to win this year, I promise! There's no way that we're going to lose to guilds like Fairy Tail, Blue Pegasus, or Lamia Scale! We just have to not lose, and keep winning!" Sting replied with a confident grin, as he high-fived his red Exceed.

Minerva simply ate her breakfast while not paying attention to Sting's loud cheering, and she looked up at Reināre to see the violet-eyed girl eating her waffles while clenching her right fist tightly and seeming fiercer than ever today. She must've been planning to do well today, causing Minerva to smirk a little bit.

"I hope you know that the sponsors decide the pairings for the battle part, Reināre. We all remember what happened a few weeks ago when you sent those fairies flying from our guild, so don't jump down from the booth to battle if it's Sabertooth versus Fairy Tail. You may not be picked today, or the days after that." Minerva told her while smirking arrogantly like always, and scoffing at her rival in disapproval.

Reināre put her silverware down on the white plate, and she narrowed her violet eyes at Minerva while looking fierce about winning today. She was going to prove her worth to Minerva, and the little bit of excitement in her eyes could reveal to anyone that she wanted to impress Sting as well. Slamming her right hand down on the table, Reināre leaned over the table and prepared to speak.

"If I do today's event or get chosen for the battle, I'll definitely win! No one's going to stop me, Minerva! Just watch me throughout this tournament, and I'll show you that being condescending of me was a big mistake on your part!" She retorted with determination in her voice, putting a finger to Minerva's lips to mirror the previous actions of her rival.

Rufus interrupted with a calm look on his face the break the sudden tension in the air, "Well, I'll certainly remember how delicious those vanilla and chocolate waffles tasted. Such a combination is quite pleasing, indeed."

Since the inauguration for the Grand Magic Games would take place in forty-five minutes, and with the Domus Flau being a little bit far from the restaurant, Minerva decided to teleport everyone to where they would be a short distance away from the arena.

* * *

Sting watched his girlfriend quickly check her appearance in the reflection of a glass window nearby, and he smiled while his blue eyes scanned her from head to toe. She wore a light pink shirt with a short red skirt to match, and her strawberry pink high heels made her look even more appealing. Reināre still had the pink bow in her hair, and she giggled when she turned to face Sting.

"You always look great, no matter what. If you get chosen to battle today, Lector and I will cheer for you like crazy! I can already tell that you're going to win, no matter who your opponent is or what the event is." The white dragon slayer told her with a smile on his face, before grinning confidently and giving Reināre a thumbs-up while winking with his right eye.

"Thank you, Sting! I'm going to compete today for Sabertooth, and I'm going to win for both of us! Sorry if I seemed totally fierce earlier, but I really want to beat Fairy Tail because it'll make me feel like I'm stronger than my past self!" She responded with strong emotions in her voice while still looking fierce and feeling confidence rising up from inside her.

Sting understood her reasons for wanting to participate today, and he really did like that fierce look of passion and excitement in her violet eyes. He gave her a soft kiss on the lips for good luck, and she blushed a light shade of pink before returning the kiss and feeling Sting lightly wrap his arms around her waist.

Rogue and Frosch smiled at their friends, as they were walking past them towards the arena, and Rogue noticed that Reināre had the black spell book in her left hand. When he suddenly saw the book turn red and radiate a pulsating red glow, Rogue smiled a little bit while Frosch saw the book change color and looked awestruck.

"Did you see the book change colors like that, Rogue?" Frosch asked while it still looked surprised at what had just happened.

"Yes, Frosch. At least the spell book isn't being used by Reināre for evil purposes, so we don't have to worry about anything deciding the fate of the world like last year with the Eclipse Gate." Rogue replied nicely with a calm look in his red eyes, as he walked towards the arena with Frosch.

Sting and Lucy broke their soft kiss, and they smiled while holding hands and running fast to catch up with Rogue and the others who were ahead of them.

* * *

**40 minutes later…**

The time had finally arrived for the inauguration of the Grand Magic Games in the year X792, and there were balloons of many colors being released into the air. Spectators filled the many rows of seats in the Domus Flau, and the guild masters were in the stadium's booths along with non-competing members of their respective guilds.

The announcer and judges were in a booth near the king's booth, and Chapati Lola looked excited about the Grand Magic Games while he turned on his microphone and tested it to make sure that it was working.

"Welcome to the Grand Magic Games of X792, everyone! Once again, we're all here to decide the best guild in Fiore! Fairy Tail's win last year was exciting to see, but can they win again and keep their success going? Will someone else rise to the top? Let's get ready to see the eight competing teams!" Chapati announced excitedly, causing the spectators in the arena to cheer and roar.

"I hope that everyone competes fairly this year. We don't want to have to disqualify anyone and ban them for three years like we had to do with Team Raven Tail last year." Yajima commented sternly, hoping no one would be foolish enough to cheat.

"I certainly hope Blue Pegasus will be competing again." Jenny Realight said with a happy smile on her face, as she waved to the crowd.

Then, the teams were getting ready to be announced. They would be announced in ascending order from the 8th place team to the team that got 1st place in the Poison Labyrinth event yesterday. Aside from Sabertooth, who else had qualified to compete in the Grand Magic Games this year?

The first group to be announced was Team Quatro Cerberus, who had gotten 8th place this time around. Their team consisted of Bacchus, Rocker, Nobarly, Yaeger, and Semmes. Hopefully, for their sake, they wouldn't have to be renamed Team Quatro Puppy like last year.

Next, was Team Mermaid Heel. They came in 7th place, and the mages on the team were Kagura, Milliana, Beth, Risley, and Arania. Could they achieve fourth place at the end like they did last year?

After them, a new team came out of the dark hallway and they all had purple crescent marks below their left eyes. All of the members also wore purple clothing, which suited them since their guild name was Lavender Moon. (The five members will be introduced and described later on, during the course of the Grand Magic Games.)

Following them, was Team Blue Pegasus. Jenny immediately stood up to applaud her teammates for getting 5th place, and she smiled at Hibiki, Ren, Eve, Ichiya, and Nichiya.

Afterwards, Team Lamia Scale came out on to the battlefield of the Domus Flau. Ooba Babasaama scolded them for getting 4th place again, but then she saw the reason why when Chelia Blendy kept tripping because her shoes were still slippery with purple gunk on their soles from the poisonous water in the labyrinth.

Then, Team Fairy Tail A arrived in the Domus Flau. Erza, Natsu, Laxus, Gajeel, Gray, and Juvia heard the tremendous roars of the crowd since Fairy Tail had won last year. They had confident smiles on their faces that told everyone that they planned to win again this year.

Surprisingly, the next team to arrive was Team Fairy Tail B. It consisted of Lisanna, Mirajane, Elfman, Cana, Wendy, and Jellal. The crowd cheered for them as well, since they also represented Fairy Tail. Lisanna and Natsu immediately ran to each other while smiling, and they shared a deep kiss that made the crowd go wilder for Fairy Tail.

Finally, it was Team Sabertooth's time to step out on to the field. The six members were walking down the dark hallway towards the bright light that led to the battlefield where everyone else was waiting to see the team that got 1st place in the Poison Labyrinth event.

Sting and Reināre were holding hands and smiling, as they arrived on the field with their teammates to see all the other teams they were competing against during the Grand Magic Games. The crowd cheered for Team Sabertooth, and some of the spectators even recognized Reināre from seeing her name in the newspaper because of all her clones successfully completing jobs all over Fiore and in faraway lands.

Reināre blushed light pink and seemed a little bit nervous from all of her opponents staring at her, especially since people like Kagura Mikazuchi and Lyon Vastia looked eager to fight her since they had obviously heard the stories of her enormous power.

"There you are! You're the one who beat the crap out of us when we were looking for that book, and we're gonna make you pay for that!" Natsu shouted while glaring at the violet-eyed girl, who was quickly shielded by her boyfriend Sting. However, Reināre motioned for him to step aside while fierceness returned to her eyes.

"You kicked down the doors of our guild, and you nearly killed my boyfriend. I have other things I can't forgive you for, Salamander. You'll get your ultimate karma soon, after I use my full power to annihilate you and tear you to shreds. Don't even try to act like a victim, you stupid idiot. Besides, your brain is dense like steel and it's small like your tiny candlestick." Reināre replied coldly with a fierce facial expression, as her death glare moved from Natsu to the other members of his team and then to Lisanna.

People from Fairy Tail and other guilds let out a large "Oh!" when Reināre told off a hothead like Natsu and acted like she could kick his ass with ease if he tried to attack her. In other words, Natsu just got owned. Even Minerva dropped her jaw in shock at hearing Reināre tell off Natsu like she did.

The fire dragon slayer couldn't think of anything to say back to Reināre, and even Gajeel and Laxus were laughing about the fact that he got told by a girl. Natsu groaned in frustration, and Sting was laughing hysterically.

* * *

**5 minutes later…**

After all the laughter ceased, a stone tablet rose up from the ground and it had the program for the five days of the Grand Magic Games on it. The events would happen before the battles on each day, except the fifth day where the event was the survival tournament that involved battles.

The first event, to remind everyone about how "fun" the Grand Magic Games could be, was the game known as 'Hidden'. For events, the teams could select a member to participate instead of the sponsors deciding. Who would be selected for this tricky event?

Team Lavender Moon immediately selected Kaname, a girl with bright pink hair that went down to the middle of her back, large green eyes, and fair skin. Kaname wore a purple qipao dress with white circular designs, with or without short sleeves, with a zipper, and tight dark green shorts.

Team Fairy Tail A and Fairy Tail B respectively let Gray and Cana participate, while Mermaid Heel and Blue Pegasus chose Beth and Eve. Quatro Cerberus chose Yaeger, and Lyon volunteered for Lamia Scale. Who would represent Sabertooth?

Rufus was about to step forward, until Minerva grabbed his left hand and glared at him. Rufus wondered what was going on, since he could track people's movements and memorize them easily. Much to his and Sting's shock, Minerva teleported Reināre's red spell book into the hands of Rufus and she teleported the violet-eyed girl on to the field with the other participants.

It was obvious that Minerva wanted to see Reināre fail, so she could take credit for winning later on and she was also curious to see if someone like her rival Reināre could use her various types of spells to her advantage in something like this.

In an instant, Mato opened the field with his magic and a town appeared in the middle of the Domus Flau. Everyone was teleported to a different location in the town, clearly not knowing where the others were spawned or where they would be hiding. To make things more complicated, numerous clones of each participant began to appear in the town.

"For those of you who don't know how to play, I'll explain the rules! Attack a person, and you get one point! The person who was attacked will lose a point, and they will be spawned somewhere else. If the attacker attacks a clone of their opponent, the attacker loses a point! In the end, whoever has the most points wins the game! The time limit is 15 minutes! Now, let 'Hidden' begin!" Chapati announced while looking thrilled for what was to come.

_"How am I supposed to find my real enemies, especially in a town full of clones?"_ Lucy thought to herself, as she began to look frustrated while looking around.

However, she remembered that people give off heat and that would work perfectly with her Fire Magic. Since copies didn't have any heat, only real people would be affected by this upcoming spell. Reināre stretched her arms out in front of her body with her palms together, and she concentrated her magical power into the red nail on the index finger of her left hand.

Reināre shouted while looking determined to win and beat Fairy Tail, "Time for one of my new fire spells, and it's called Fire Tracker!"

The spell gave her a clear mental image of what to do, and she closed her left eye while pointing her left index finger into the air. Suddenly, seven red spheres of energy appeared above her with fire swirling around them and it seemed like the powers of the spell book gave each sphere a clear image of the person that it had to target. The seven spheres of Fire Magic diverged to different locations where they sensed body heat, shocking many spectators.

Gray walked around the town with a calm facial expression, until he was nearly attacked by ice eagles that were created by his rival Lyon. The two men went into combat stances, getting ready to start their fight for points, until a red sphere appeared to be honing in on each of them.

"What the hell?!" Gray and Lyon both exclaimed while looking surprised, before the flame-covered red spheres struck them both in the chests and set off a fiery explosion in the process. Despite respectively making a dome and eagle to cushion the blow of the explosions, both Gray and Lyon respawned somewhere else in the town and lost a point since the sphere had touched them.

The same happened to the other competitors, from the explosions Reināre was hearing and from seeing her points rise one by one on the Lacrima Vision screens. From seeing how the fiery spheres looked similar to the spheres she hit Team Natsu with, the raven-haired girl smiled upon realizing that the spell book gave her a few variations of certain spells.

She had gained seven points from that one spell, but quickly realized that some people would be after her now because she had more points than anyone else did. Also, they might've seen where the fiery spheres had originated. They might've given away her location, almost as if she had shot up several flares.

Then, she had really tempted fate by thinking about something like that. Suddenly, Gray, Lyon, Eve, and Beth appeared behind her and they looked mad about the fact that they were struck from a distance in such a sneaky way. They had decided to give her a taste of her own medicine by using long-ranged spells, but then she suddenly ran towards them at triple her normal speed using Dark Acceleration.

"Speed won't work against me, unfortunately!" Lyon told her with a serious look on his face, before striking her in the head and thinking he would get a point. However, him and the other four mages were caught off guard when Reināre smirked and suddenly exploded into a large inferno of fire!

She replied confidently with a smirk on her face, as she emerged unharmed from a sudden twister of red flames, "Fiery Burn, another new spell. I can hit you, or you can hit me. Either way, you take massive damage."

The spell book's powers allowed her to absorb all the fire into her left index finger, and Reināre looked happy upon seeing her four opponents get respawned to different locations. She now had eleven points and her laughter increased a little bit when the inferno made many of the buildings around her begin to crumble into pieces. Whoever made that spell book certainly made all the types of magic have amazing versatility in their spells, that's for sure.

Then, the event had been stopped when the judges noticed that Reināre had 11 points, and Cana was in second with a score of 0. Even last minute hits couldn't help anyone narrow the margin between Sabertooth and everyone else, prompting Sting to cheer for his girlfriend.

"What a burning hot display of flames on the first day! Sabertooth is striking, and they're bringing the fire! They get 10 points!" Chapati exclaimed while looking utterly shocked at some unabsorbed flames begin to burn down the magical town that was in the Domus Flau.

Makarov and Jiemma both thought simultaneously while looking shocked at what was happening, _"There's no mistaking it! Those spells are the ones that were created by a woman who was more malevolent than Zeref!"_

After the event was over, the current points for each team was displayed on Lacrima Vision screens for everyone to see. Sabertooth had 10 points, Fairy Tail B had 8 points, Fairy Tail A had 6 points, and followed by Lamia Scale who had 4 points, Blue Pegasus had 3, Lavender Moon had 2, Mermaid Heel had 1, leaving Quatro Cerberus with zero points.

* * *

**10 minutes later…**

When the competitors from the event went up to the booths where their teams were waiting, everyone could only talk about Reināre's fiery determination to win since she almost burned down a magically-created town and damaged it with her flaming hot explosions. Who would be against her in the battle part, if she were chosen to battle today?

The first battle was between Erza Scarlet of Team Fairy Tail A and Kaname Dokusei from Team Lavender Moon. Both girls stepped forward, shooting death glares at each other before battling each other. Mato was excited to see this first match, and he immediately announced for it to begin while he smiled.

Erza immediately requipped into her Flame Empress Armor, and she had upgraded her Flame Sword to where it could unleash flames from a single swing. As she swung it towards Kaname, Erza was shocked to see that her opponent had suddenly disappeared.

"I'm up here, loser!" Kaname shouted while giving Erza a taunting look, as she threw some tiny purple crescent moons at her opponent and watch them surround Erza. They instantly exploded into a massive purple blast of energy, which was known as Moon Magic.

However, Titania was quick to requip into her Heaven's Wheel Armor and fly high enough to not even be damaged slightly by the attack. She used her Pentagram Sword to slash at Kaname, and make her swift and powerful slashes form the shape of a pentagram. Kaname coughed up some blood, and she fell to the ground.

Erza earned 10 points for Team Fairy Tail A while Team Lavender Moon still had only two points. That brought Team Fairy Tail A up to a total of 16 points, causing Natsu to cheer wildly now that his team was in 1st place. How long would it last, though?

The second match of the day pitted Lamia Scale's Jura Neekis against Nichiya from Blue Pegasus. Jura smirked confidently, and quickly used his Iron Rock Fist attack. This prompted a very large arm made of rock, whose appearance is reminiscent of an intricate gauntlet, to emerge from the ground not far from him, and to move towards Nichiya at high speeds with its fist clenched. In an instant, he was sent flying into the air and he fell back down while landing hard on his face. Lamia Scale earned 10 points, bringing them to a total of 14 points for the day while Blue Pegasus had 3 points.

The third match put Minerva from Team Sabertooth up against Beth Vanderwood from Team Mermaid Heel. Despite being her rival, Reināre cheered for Minerva and hoped that she would win. After all, they were on the same team.

Minerva simply teleported the young girl in front of her, and kicked her in the back with tremendous force that sent Beth crashing into a wall and knocked her out. After what Reināre had done earlier, Minerva was not going to be shown up by Sabertooth's newest member and she smirked evilly up at the other members of Team Mermaid Heel before teleporting back to the booth where her teammates were waiting.

In total, Sabertooth gained 20 points. That was the perfect amount for the first day, effectively putting them at the top in first place and bumping down Team Fairy Tail A to 2nd place. Reināre looked over at Natsu, and stuck her tongue out at him while pulling down her left eyelid.

The final match matched up Wendy Marvell from Team Fairy Tail B against Nobarly from Team Quatro Cerberus, and Wendy had a new move up her sleeve. She stretched her arms out, so they were facing opposite directions, and she inhaled some air.

"Sky Dragon's Tornado!" She shouted with a happy look on her face, before exhaling a large light blue tornado of air from her mouth.

Wendy had watched Lucy and Sting training on the beach that one day, and she had created a little variation of the giant water twister she saw. Nobarly was pulled into the twister, and the fierce winds made deep cuts on his body like they were a large amount of scythes. He was thrown into the air, and fell flat on his back with a shocked look on his face.

Wendy won the last match, thus earning ten points for Team Fairy Tail B and giving them a total of 18 points. They were now in 2nd place, making Natsu's team descend to third place.

* * *

"This is awesome! We have 20 points now, Reināre! Things are going to go smoothly for us, just like today!" Sting told her with a smile on his face, as he looked into her violet eyes and unknowingly held her hands.

Reināre replied while blushing again and smiling, as she looked into Sting's eyes and rested her head against his chest before letting her left hand run her fingers through his blond hair, "I'm so happy, Sting! During the event, I was actually trying to impress you with my new moves. Sorry if that sounds a little bit lame and cheesy."

"It's perfectly fine. Those fire spheres and that inferno were the greatest spells that the book has given you so far, Reināre. Together, we'll unlock all of the awesome spells in that book. Don't worry about the black spells because we will have an opportunity to test them out, trust me." He told her in a calm tone, before carrying her in a bridal-style fashion to get something to eat when both of their stomachs growled.

* * *

Rogue took the red book from Rufus when he wasn't looking, and he smiled while turning through the different sections of the book and seeing the many spells that Lucy had unlocked. However, upon seeing the black spells and their descriptions, his eyes widened in shock and he quickly closed the book.

_"That energy I felt for that split second… It came from those spells in black writing. I know Lucy's mad at Natsu, but I hope she doesn't test these out if she has to fight him in this competition."_ Rogue thought to himself, as he began to tremble slightly and try to regain his composure upon seeing that the book was still red.

* * *

**How was Chapter 16? Sorry if the battles seemed too quick, but they get longer in the upcoming chapters. What did Rogue find in the black spells of the book? Will Lucy have to fight tomorrow against a strong opponent? Will Sting's love for her bring out his new moves, as he deals with Natsu? Find out in Chapter 17!**


	17. Chapter 17

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. Hiro Mashima does. This story was made for fun, and not for cash. (How unfortunate.)**

* * *

Lucy woke up in her room that she shared with Minerva, and she had reverted back to her normal form with blonde hair and brown eyes. She felt the sunlight's warmth come down on her face, prompting her to smile as it reminded her of the day she had promised herself that she would become a stronger person. Today was the 2nd day of the Grand Magic Games, and Lucy looked determined to win again like she had done yesterday. Not only for her sake, but to show Sting that they hadn't trained so hard for nothing.

She looked under the white bed sheets to see that she wasn't wearing any clothes, and she blushed cherry red while looking embarrassed. If Sting and the others came in to say good morning, they would see her in the nude and also see that her transformation had worn off again. Upon hearing Minerva groan a little bit, since the sunlight was probably shining right in her eyes to blind her, Lucy acted quickly and ran into the nearby bathroom.

After quickly closing the sliding door, Lucy made her index and middle fingers cross at a right angle and she built up some magical power. Then, she transformed into Reināre again and giggled happily upon seeing her long black hair and violet eyes in the reflection of the sliding glass door. Now that she was in the bathroom, Lucy decided to start off her day with a bath.

As the hot water ran from the faucet for a few minutes, she still wondered what Sting had meant when he once talked about fusing spells. She knew perfectly well that spells of the same type of magic could be combined together, but what about two different types of magic? Would something like that be able to occur, and how would it have to happen?

When a good amount of water filled the bathtub, Reināre stepped into the bathtub and she sat down to enjoy the feeling of hot water kissing her skin and relaxing her tired muscles and creaky joints. She smiled while stretching her arms high above her head and lowering them to put pink body wash on her purple washcloth. She began to scrub her body in a slow and steady manner, enjoying the smell of cherries from the body wash as it was on every part of her body.

She blushed and looked completely relaxed while washing herself, almost imagining the soft scrubbing of her body being done by Sting. She let out a soft moan when she washed her breasts, and her pleasure caused her to moan in a relaxed tone. Reināre changed positions to where she laid on her back, and simply let the hot water wash some soap off of her back.

* * *

"Well, someone must really be longing for Sting if she's resorting to self-pleasure and moaning." Minerva told Reināre with a teasing smirk on her face, before going into the nearby shower to start her day. Cleanliness was the predecessor of breakfast, in her daily routine of being proper.

The violet-eyed girl replied with a defensive look on her face, as she got out of the bath and put her hands on Minerva's shoulders to make her rival react and be face to face with her, "I am totally not longing for him, or clingy towards him! He's just the best guy in the world to me, that's all!"

"Well, just make sure you win the battle today if you're chosen to fight. Don't drag it out to impress Sting with all your fancy spells, either. Knowing you, you'll show the enemy all of your spells and make them find all your weaknesses. Maybe your win was just luck yesterday, Reināre-tan." Minerva retorted while laughing and teleporting Reināre out of the room to let her be alone in the bathroom.

Reināre clenched her fists and growled a little bit from Minerva continuing to doubt her, but she simply put their rivalry aside and focused on continuing her relationship with Sting while making Natsu and his team not get 1st place in the Grand Magic Games. There was nothing wrong with impressing Sting, but Reināre sighed sadly when she had to admit that Minerva was right about being smart to not let a battle drag on too long. Seeing the red spell book on her bed only strengthened her fierce resolve to win the battle today, but would she be chosen to fight?

* * *

As Reināre used the Fire Magic from her red nail to make fire swirl around her body and dry herself off, Sting and the others came into the room to greet the girls. However, Sting immediately blushed from what he was seeing when the fire immediately disappeared. His girlfriend was naked, but he knew that she trusted him to not take anything too far or let his perversion loose.

Sting narrowed his blue eyes at Rufus and Orga, who stared at Reināre like she was just as beautiful as Minerva was. Sting thought she looked like the most beautiful woman in the world, causing him to glare at Rufus and Orga while they quickly turned away like they had done nothing.

"We're totally going to win today, just like we did yesterday! Let's keep this momentum going and show everyone who this year's champions are!" Sting told Reināre while looking hyped up for today's event and battles, as he began to cheer alongside Lector again.

"You're right, Sting! Today is the day that I feel like the battle for Sabertooth has my name written all over it, and there's no way that I'm going to lose!" Reināre replied with a passionate look in her violet eyes, as she looked determined to succeed and used Transformation Magic to make some clothes appear on her body.

In an instant, she wore a white T-shirt that left her abdomen exposed and Reināre also wore her favorite black skirt with some orange high heels to compliment her outfit. Her excellent tastes in style made Sting have a happy smirk on his face, prompting Lector to smirk confidently as well in support of his best friend.

"Shall we all get some breakfast to give us a good start to the second day of the tournament?" Rufus asked while smiling calmly and walking out of the room.

"Wait, Rufus! Shouldn't we wait for Minerva to finish her shower?" Reināre asked out of curiosity, and thinking it would be wrong to leave without her.

Sting spoke for Rufus, as he took his girlfriend's left hand in his and smiled confidently, "Don't worry your pretty little head about Minerva, Reināre. Knowing her, she'll immediately catch up with us and give us a lecture about possibly adequate strategies for the day."

Everyone ran out of the room to get breakfast, and Reināre took the red spell book with her before she left. She didn't know where this feeling of battling today had originated from, and she wondered if her instincts would be right on target. Also, what would today's event be focusing on? Would she be the one to do it again?

* * *

**10 minutes later…**

Sting had taken Reināre and Lector to a donut shop in Crocus, and he sat across from her while eating glazed chocolate donut holes and sharing some with Lector. He enjoyed their delectable taste, and he chuckled happily while seeing his girlfriend eat white powdered donut holes and get frosting on her face.

"I understand that you want to be the one who ends up besting Natsu at some point during this tournament, but please hear me out. Lucy, I want to compete today to make up for my forfeit to Natsu and Gajeel last year in the Chariot event. If Natsu's one of my opponents in today's event, I'll beat him by a landslide." Sting explained with his usual cocky grin, before putting another chocolate donut hole in his mouth and chewing it slowly.

She gasped a little bit from hearing what Sting had to say, but she understood his reasons for wanting to compete today. It was just like the time when Lucy competed in the Naval Battle to make up for her loss against Flare Corona last year, even though she was grievously injured by Minerva and nearly lost her life. Still, her look of doubt began to turn into a smile of approval as she thought about it and ate half of another powdered donut. Sting had been rooting for her yesterday, and Lucy felt that it was necessary to make their support of each other always be reciprocal in their relationship.

Lucy replied with confidence in her now violet eyes that were filled with confidence while she smiled and knew Sting would definitely try his best, "Good luck, Sting! I'll be cheering you on from the booth, and I have complete faith in you! Whatever the event is, I can tell that you'll win!"

The white dragon slayer got up from his seat, and he went over to Lucy's side of the table to give her a warm kiss on the cheek for her approval and support for him in this matter. Sting told himself that he wouldn't let her down, and he needed to settle his score with Natsu before Lucy could settle hers.

He smiled confidently at her, and Lector flew on to Lucy's head after she put some jewels on the table to pay for the food. As she held the red spell book close to her heart, her affectionate feelings for Sting must've caused the book to turn orange for a moment and then turn yellow. Why would it turn two colors? What did this mean?

* * *

**10 minutes later, at the Domus Flau…**

Chapati exclaimed while looking excited about the upcoming action today, "Welcome to the second day of the Grand Magic Games, everybody! Yesterday, Sabertooth came in hot like a wildfire to take first place and Fairy Tail isn't too far behind! Will these two guilds have a third rival, and what excitement will we see today?"

"Sabertooth was certainly impressive on the first day, I'll say that." Yajima commented in a calm tone while folding his arms.

"Hello, people! My name's Jason from Sorcerer Magazine, and I'm the guest judge for the second day! I am definitely going to get the DVD for this year's Grand Magic Games, because Reināre Katsura's fiery moves yesterday were so hot and cool!" Jason shouted while looking hyper and sounding energetic about what today would bring.

The crowd began to cheer wildly, knowing that today's event and battles would probably be exciting and thrilling to watch. All of the teams were in their respective booths, and Minerva had arrived a few minutes in her blue dress before Sting and Reināre made it to Sabertooth's booth in time for the event of the second day to begin. Would it be something that Sting could handle, though?

Chapati announced that today's event would be known as "Avalanche." According to his description of the event, a mountain would be created from magical power and it would be on the sandy battlefield of the Domus Flau. The participants simply had to use eight skateboards placed at the top of the mountain, after they were teleported near its peak, and they had to reach the bottom of the mountain.

Any kind of magic was acceptable to help each participant achieve this goal, but it wouldn't be as easy as they thought it would be. The bottoms of the skateboards were lubed up with oil to get more speed going, and there were some explosives hidden on the mountain to make things more interesting. Everyone had to cross the finish line while still being on their skateboard, or they would be disqualified and earn a certain amount of points based on how they placed before getting eliminated from the event.

Sting told his team with a confident look on his face, "This is totally my area of expertise, guys! I'm gonna make up for what I did last year in the Chariot event, trust me!"

Before Minerva could even debate with him about it, Sting jumped down on the sandy battlefield and waited to see whom his opponents would be. Even though he had no clue who was going to be selected, Sting told himself to give it 120% since he was doing it for Lucy a.k.a. Reināre.

"There's Sting, guys! He's a smug jerk, and I'm gonna make him pay for letting his stupid girlfriend berate me the way she did in front of an entire audience yesterday! When I burn that guy to a crisp, let's hear what Reināre will say about that!" Natsu shouted with an extremely angry look on his face, before jumping from the booth where Team Fairy Tail A was located.

"Flight gives me a good advantage over explosives, especially if I fly with my skateboard!" Mira told her teammates while smiling happily, and she joined Sting and Natsu in the treacherous event.

Yuka Suzuki volunteered for Team Lamia Scale since his Wave Magic might be useful, and Eve decided to participate once again since he could use snow to create a slight advantage for himself. The mysterious group known as Team Lavender Moon chose a girl named Laila, while Risley and Bacchus respectively decided to represent Mermaid Heel and Quatro Cerberus.

To satisfy the spectators and teams, Lacrima Vision screens appeared in the air to show them what was happening in full view. This also made it easy for the judges to replay some parts of the event in slow motion to see who crossed the finish line first between two people for certain rankings, should there appear to be ties.

* * *

When everyone had stepped forward for the event, Mato commanded the playing field to appear and everyone seemed slightly startled when they heard rumbling sounds coming from underneath them. In an instant, the mountain rose up from the ground and everyone stood on its circular peak. As each person saw a skateboard be magically created in front of him or her, they immediately gulped and looked worried from seeing the long way down to the finish line.

"Sorry to get a head start, but I have a hot and sweet girlfriend to impress. Later, guys!" Sting told everyone with confidence in his voice as he smirked, before getting on the skateboard in front of him and making his way down the mountain.

"You're not gonna make me look bad, you arrogant bastard!" Natsu shouted while looking fierce, as he quickly got on to a skateboard and made flames engulf his clenched fists.

While Mira quickly changed into her Satan Soul: Halphas Take-over and flew down the mountain towards the finish line with her skateboard after grabbing it, everyone else hurried to catch up with the two dragon slayers who had gone ahead of them.

Sting stretched his arms out in front of him, and he put his palms together to unleash an attack of some kind. After a few seconds, a white sphere of light formed in between his palms and it reached their size. Releasing the ball of light from his hands, Sting watched it roll down the mountain and not be affected by the explosives Chapati had mentioned. The sphere kept rolling towards the finish line, triggering another miniature explosion and making rocks roll down to the finish line in the process. Well, that's why the event was called "Avalanche."

Natsu shouted while appearing beside him and trying to punch him in the face, "Play fair, asshole! You obviously can't handle explosions, if you're pulling dirty tricks like that!"

Sting replied with a stern look on his face, as he slid to and away from Natsu while dodging and blocking his punches as he kept his footing on the golden skateboard, "You obviously don't know how to treat people, Salamander! You can't say that I play dirty, after how you cheated on Lucy Heartfilia like she was nothing to you!"

"How the hell do you know about that, you damn moron?!" Natsu asked whilst looking both angry and shocked at the fact that Sting knew about something that hadn't even been spread far from Fairy Tail or Magnolia Town.

"Lucy told me all about it, you stupid idiot. We met by chance in Castelia Town on the day after you dumped her for that silver-haired chick, and Lucy told me how you and your stupid team ignored her and replaced her like she was trash! People like you are definitely scum, Salamander!" Sting explained coldly, keeping his stern facial expression while lying and preparing to use a new move.

"You honestly act like I should give a crap about someone who was bringing down my team, even though my dispute with Lucy has nothing to do with you! She can continue being the useless slut that she is, and you can get the hell out of my way! After you get second place, get a consolation prize from your crappy girlfriend!" Natsu exclaimed, as he grew even angrier and attempted to blast Sting away with his Fire Dragon's Roar.

Sting managed to slow down his skateboard's acceleration for him to have enough time to turn and evade the wall of flames in front of him. He had a trick up his sleeve, also known as White Dragon's Engine. Much to Natsu's shock, the white dragon slayer turned around on his skateboard and unleashed a spiraling vortex of light from his mouth.

The force of the attack created an actual landslide, causing a large mass of rocks to come rolling down the mountain and the strong attack from his mouth also propelled Sting and his skateboard past the finish line with tremendous speed to receive first place in the event.

Mira noticed that the rocks were catching up to Natsu, and she immediately grabbed him and carried him into the air to assist him in not getting crushed by the boulders coming his way. To reduce the amount of weight she was currently carrying, Mira threw Natsu and he rolled past the finish line with his skateboard to come in 2nd place.

Still carrying her skateboard, Mirajane flew past the finish line to get third place and Yuka followed her to respectively claim 4th place. Laila from Team Lavender Moon unleashed purple chains of Moon Magic from her hands while she looked back at the other three competitors skateboarding down the mountain behind her. She managed to get Bacchus and Risley disqualified by making the chains wrap around their wrists and caused the mages to fall off their skateboards when Laila tugged hard on the chains to make them lose balance and drag them down the rocky mountain.

Eve became distracted by the female mage from Team Lavender Moon purposely lunging her chains at him, and causing him to swerve left and right while making extremely sharp turns to avoid Laila's onslaught when she made more chains try to strike him for her own amusement. He had paid so much attention to avoiding his enemy's attacks that he couldn't turn in time to cease himself from slamming hard into a boulder and watching with a frustrated look as his new enemy grabbed his skateboard and went past him while laughing evilly.

Laila was the last one to cross the finish line, thus coming in 5th place and earning 3 points for Team Lavender Moon. Since Eve was the third and final person to get disqualified from the event, his team got 6th place in the event and received 2 points.

The magically created mountain lowered itself to the ground, and it disappeared in a large puff of smoke. The participants went back to their team's booths, and the battle part of the day would commence in ten minutes.

"Sting, that was really amazing! You were awesome out there, and I love how you smile onscreen! You're the best skateboarder in the world!" Reināre told him with a happy smile on her face, after Sting jumped back up into Sabertooth's booth and did some victory poses for her.

"I did it all for you, my raven-haired Reināre. After all, I refuse to let anyone speak ill about my girlfriend and get away with a big win. Now that Natsu's riled up with the lie I told, I wonder if he'll invade our inn and challenge Sabertooth like he did last year." Sting replied while sharing a hug of victory with his girlfriend, and putting a dreamy look on her face when she blushed pink like cotton candy and seemed like she could swim in his eyes that were blue like the ocean.

Now that the event was over, Reināre looked confident and happy that this may be her day to be chosen to fight. Sting had won in a dangerous event for her, and now she wanted to win the battle for him. Whoever her opponent was, Reināre told herself that she would emerge victorious and make Sabertooth proud.

If she had to fight against someone from Fairy Tail, the fierce look in Reināre's violet eyes could make anybody see that she would show no mercy. However, she also remembered the pairings for each fight were random and the chance of her being picked to represent Team Sabertooth was pretty slim.

* * *

**10 more minutes later…**

"All right, everyone! It's time to start the battle portion of the second day, and I have a feeling that these battles will be thrilling to watch!" Chapati exclaimed with an excited facial expression, as the overwhelming thrill made him stand on his chair with the microphone in his hands.

The first battle was between Toby Horhorta of Team Lamia Scale and Laila Crescent from Team Lavender Moon. Laila wore a lavender mini skirt, a light green, sleeveless top with a dark green center and a folded collar with yet another orange ribbon tied around it and a heart emblem on her left breast and an "X" on her right. She wore short white black coupled with red wristbands, on top of a longer pink fabric that reached her upper arms and was kept in place by armbands that matched the ones on her wrists. For hosiery, she had long black stockings and white leg warmers atop black shoes. Her amethyst hair was tied up in two short pigtails with blue bows as well.

When the gong was struck to let the battle begin, Toby immediately lunged at Laila with his signature Super Paralysis Claw: Mega Mega Jellyfish technique. Anyone who was struck on contact with his long and poison-covered nails would be paralyzed, obviously. Laila simply smirked evilly, and dodged his fast strikes with the slightest of movements.

"You're really strong!" Toby told his opponent with his comically angry facial expression, as he still slashed wildly at her to land a hit.

"You're wasting my time, dog breath. Let's end this warm-up session, and get serious!" Laila replied with a vicious look on her face, before disappearing for a second and then reappearing behind Toby.

She unleashed two purple lasers from her eyes, and they struck Toby while making a small explosion happen in the process. These lasers could take various properties of any type of magic, feeling like titanium in this case when they hit Toby head-on. He was knocked out, and Laila won the match. Her teammates laughed evilly like a bunch of punks, and Team Lavender Moon gained 10 points.

With this recent win, they moved up to fifth place and made Team Blue Pegasus descend to sixth place. Team Lavender Moon currently had 15 points, which satisfied them greatly.

* * *

The next match was Ren Akatsuki from Team Blue Pegasus versus Arania Web from Team Mermaid Heel. Arania shot spider webs from her hands, and they grew with distance. However, Ren easily dodged the webs by leaping backwards and doing a series of backflips to avoid them.

Then, Ren swung both of his hands in a circular motion around his body while smiling with confidence. He used the wind to pull Arania towards him, before enveloping her in a blue sphere-like cyclone to inflict damage and send her flying into the air. She landed on her back, and Arania looked disappointed in herself while she admitted defeat.

Ren won the match, thus earning ten points for Team Blue Pegasus and making them switch rankings with Team Lavender Moon since they now had 15 points. Mermaid Heel had two points, and they were still in seventh place.

* * *

Chapati announced while looking extremely thrilled for this next battle, as he had the small white piece of paper in his hand with the list of matches on it, "This next battle is a total thrill, everybody! It might get intense! It's Bacchus from Team Quatro Cerberus versus Reināre Katsura from Team Sabertooth!"

When her name was announced, Reināre immediately gulped while looking somewhat shocked at the matchup. Was she ready to take on Bacchus, someone who was on the same level as Erza and never came to a decisive conclusion in several battles with her? She had her doubts and she was thinking of backing out, but Minerva teleported her on to the field and put her spell book in Sting's hands.

"Don't worry, Reināre! You're gonna win this, I know it! Rock the stadium to its core, and give it everything you've got! Show that hound dog who's the boss!" Sting cheered loudly, putting his hands on both sides near his mouth for her to hear his words of encouragement.

"You better not lose, or I'll never let you live it down!" Minerva added with a stern glare on her face, wanting to see what spells Reināre had up her sleeve.

Turning her attention to her opponent, Reināre narrowed her violet eyes and clenched her fists tightly. She could see Natsu making heckling faces at her in Team Fairy Tail A's booth behind Bacchus, strengthening her desire to win even more.

Bacchus told her with a flirtatious smirk on his face before the fight got started, "All right, let's make this battle worth fighting. Last year, every match had a bet on the second day. If I win against a famous and sexy woman like you, then you must sleep with me tonight. If you win, then you get anything you want."

Reināre shuddered in disgust at this thought, and even Minerva had to agree with her reaction to the bet Bacchus made. Cana and Wendy both decided to cheer on Reināre, since they most certainly didn't like the fact that her opponent was a major pervert. Sting immediately looked angry with this, and he tightly gripped the railing with his hands. No one was going to steal his girlfriend, even if he had to stop the match to beat up Bacchus himself.

"Sorry, hound dog. There's only one guy that I want to sleep with, and he definitely won't be you!" Reināre replied fiercely, as she looked at the ring finger of her left hand and noticed that the yellow nail had the kanji for 'lightning' on it.

She pointed her ring finger straight up into the air, prompting some lightning to rise into the sky. In an instant, eight beams of lightning descended down towards Bacchus. He dodged them all with his unorthodox movements, and he ran towards Reināre at fast speeds.

He instantly struck her five times with his strong palms, causing her to be sent flying a few feet away from him and slide across the ground. Not wanting to lose, Reināre immediately got up and glared at Bacchus. Since fighting from a distance wouldn't work, she figured that she had no other choice but to fight at close-range with her opponent.

Reināre concentrated power into her fists, by using Earth Magic to strengthen them, and she ran towards her attacker. However, Bacchus dodged every punch that she swung at him and struck her six more times before slamming his elbow against her chest and sending her rolling backwards across the battlefield.

How could she win against an unorthodox opponent like this? Even with her fierce determination to win, Reināre sighed in frustration at the current situation and fell to her knees while wondering what to do. She couldn't fight Bacchus up close, and she couldn't fight him from a distance. She let out an annoyed growl, and then heard Sting's continuous cheers for her.

"Don't give up, Reināre! I know you can beat this guy! You just have to remember that your spells can be fused together to create even stronger spells, like power and speed working together! Believe in yourself, because I believe in you!" Sting shouted to her with a stern look on his face, as his hands gripped the railing even tighter than before.

Reināre had her doubts, but then she looked up at Sting and locked her frustrated violet eyes with his stern blue eyes for a moment. Everyone in the stadium was silent while this was going on, and Minerva even looked a little amazed when she noticed them communicating just through eye contact. Their chemistry had grown to that level, but what would it bring?

After a few moments, Reināre smiled and assurance replaced the frustrated look in her eyes. A smirk of confidence appeared on her face, causing Sting to have a poised facial expression as he gave her a thumbs-up and smiled back at her. He watched his girlfriend turn back towards Bacchus, and Reināre had definitely come up with something brilliant.

"There's no chance of you winning against me, and nothing can help you now!" Bacchus told his opponent while looking psyched up and running towards her while laughing wildly after drinking booze from his gourd nearby.

Everyone wondered if it was over for the violet-eyed girl, since she was on her knees and had placed both of her hands on to the ground. Reināre was actually absorbing the hardness of the earth into her hands, but what was she planning to do? She had to slow Bacchus down, that's for sure.

She exclaimed while looking fierce and standing up, as she raised her fists into the air, "You'll have to buy dinner for me and my teammates, if you lose, Bacchus! Well, you'll have to hope your wallet's full! Take this, you agile pervert! Extreme Explosive Earthquake with Rockin' Shock Wave!"

Bacchus immediately came to a screeching halt when Reināre slammed her fists into the now softened ground, since she absorbed all of its hardness, and the entire battlefield exploded from underneath the duo! They were propelled high in the air, along with the large, medium, and small chunks of earth that rose up into the air from Reināre's attack.

She punched the chunks of earth, and the tremendous force of her punches sent the rocks flying towards Bacchus. They became orange explosions of Earth Magic, upon making the slightest amount of contact with him and Bacchus looked even more surprised to see Reināre moving at lightning speed to reach other pieces of earth while a yellow aura surrounded her. She only punched and kicked some more of the rocks, while touching some of the others and watching them turn yellow with lightning surrounding them.

Bacchus was hit in several areas with the chunks of earth, and their aftereffect of powerful explosions did even more damage to him. When he was distracted for a second, Reināre appeared in front of him and slapped him hard in the face for making a perverted bet. Then, Bacchus looked shocked when he felt intense amounts of electricity running through his body.

The electrically-charged rocks began to hone in on him like he was a magnet or a lightning rod, and they all shattered when they couldn't contain the electricity growing exponentially inside of them at a fast rate. Bacchus then found himself trapped inside a yellow sphere of electricity, and he began to get electrocuted. Reināre appeared above the sphere, and she sent it crashing towards the ground with one powerful punch! When the sphere hit the ground, it released an extremely large yellow blast of Lightning Magic and blinded everyone's eyes.

The violet-eyed girl then simply used her Lightning Magic to make a yellow aura surround her and cushion her fall, as she slowly and softly landed on the battlefield, that was now just a pillar standing in the center of the Domus Flau with an unconscious Bacchus laying on it while being on his back. Reināre landed on her feet, standing on her opponent's chest, and she noticed that everyone looked completely shocked.

Even the powerful mages from Lamia Scale, Fairy Tail, and Blue Pegasus were astounded by her fused attack. Her power even managed to shut Natsu and Lisanna's mouths, as she had heard them booing at her during the match and giving her the thumbs-down gesture.

Then, a smile reached her face when she heard the sound of one person clapping their hands for her. Sting was applauding her, which caused the other appalled members of Team Sabertooth and many of the other spectators to cheer and clap for her as well.

* * *

"I haven't seen anything like that, since… I don't know! That was a shocking victory that rumbled the arena in the process, folks! She succeeds again! The raven-haired beauty rocks day two like she's playing a great song on an electric guitar! The winner is Reināre Katsura, everybody! Sabertooth now has 40 points! Two perfect days in a row! They deserve a guitar solo, everyone!" Chapati exclaimed loudly while his awestruck look turned into an expression that looked like he saw the most exciting thing in his life, which he probably did.

"She certainly has a great bond with each type of magic, for them to work so well with her." Yajima commented calmly while smiling.

"That was just too cool, and Reināre is really cool! That was cool enough to top Erza Scarlet's victory in the Pandemonium event last year, and that's reaching a new level of cool!" Jason shouted while looking just as excited as Chapati.

The cheers just wouldn't cease for Reināre, whom happily smiled and waved to the crowd while playfully blowing kisses for some of her male fans before jumping back up into Sabertooth's booth to be congratulated by her team.

"Reināre, that was off the charts in my definition of awesome! Sting-kun never doubted you for a second!" Lector told her with a smile on his face, as he then saw Sting passionately kiss Reināre on the lips to show how he felt about seeing such a thrilling match.

Natsu shouted while looking astounded, as he looked at away from Sabertooth's booth and turned to his teammates who were cheering and showing good sportsmanship, "You guys shouldn't cheer for someone in Sabertooth, and I'm sure we could've done something big like that too!"

"You have to admit that she timed her attacks precisely and her strategy with the Earth Magic and the Lightning Magic was flawless, though. It's not every day that you see a real fusion spell like that." Laxus replied calmly while folding his arms and wanting to know the power of that lightning.

Gajeel snickered at Natsu for being so jealous, and he definitely knew that someone like Reināre was far above the fire dragon slayer's league.

Since it would take the rest of the day to repair the immensely damaged battlefield with some magic to make it exactly how it was before, both of the teams representing Fairy Tail received ten points each to make up for the match they couldn't have. Natsu looked even more frustrated, since he had wanted to fight Jellal, Elfman, or Mirajane. Interestingly enough, Chapati announced that the fight would've been Natsu versus Lisanna.

Makarov thought to himself, looking astounded and satisfied, _"Even though we got victory for both teams, those abilities of that Reināre girl… It was almost like seeing the legendary sorceress whose name should never be uttered, even after her death._

* * *

**Later that night…**

Team Sabertooth went out to eat at a restaurant to celebrate their four straight victories in a row, and they decided to share a giant steak with tons of fries and Coca-Cola on the side. Bacchus bought this expensive meal because he agreed to the bet, after he regained consciousness 30 minutes later to see Minerva and the rest of her team standing over him to remind him of the bet.

"I still can't believe you used that lightning move at the end to finish off Bacchus and make that huge blast. We should spar someday with just lightning spells, Reināre." Orga told her with a smile on his face, obviously impressed by what she had done.

"That won't be forgotten by anyone anytime soon." Rufus added, calmly smiling and eating his piece of the steak.

Reināre responded happily to both of them while smiling and giggling a little, as she sat in between Sting and Minerva around the table at the booth, "Thank you, Rufus and Orga! Well, Sting actually deserves partial credit. Without his help, I never would've asked those two types of magic to merge together and give me an ultimate spell to win the battle."

Minerva simply ate her food while staying silent the whole time, since she didn't want to say anything that would make her seem weird in front of her teammates. She didn't want to admit it, but Reināre did well in her battle today. Despite being hit, she struck back in a really fierce way. Minerva simply turned her head away from her rival, looking somewhat envious even though she had won a battle yesterday.

"_Wow, look at her acting so happy and joyful like we just won the whole competition. She better take this seriously, since Fairy Tail is probably jealous and will try to fight hard against us tomorrow. Oh, well. It wouldn't hurt to let Reināre have her one day of fame, since the next three days are where the applause will be for me." _Minerva thought while looking jealous, but then looking much more determined to surpass her rival.

* * *

**At the inn…**

Reināre a.k.a. Lucy went out to the balcony of the room she shared with Minerva, and she looked up at the stars while smiling happily. She couldn't stop thinking about how Sting helped her out today when she really needed him, and Lucy wanted to find some way to show her gratitude.

Then, she gasped a little while feeling someone tap her on her left shoulder. She turned around to see Sting with a red rose in his left hand, and he smiled at her while giving her a great hug for all of their training paying off like how it did today.

"You did great today, if everyone else you've run into hasn't said that already. I mean, that fusion you did with two different types of magic was way better than I imagined it to be." Sting told her while blushing, and looking a little nervous when he couldn't think of anything that had already been said to her by anyone else.

"Thank you so much, Sting. It's nice when anyone else says it, but praise is really great to me when it comes from you! You were good in the event today, too. Thanks for sticking up for me when Natsu was being a total jerk in the Avalanche event. You and him are on opposite ends of the gentleman spectrum, with you being the best guy I could ever have." Lucy replied while blushing pink like strawberry ice cream, and enjoying the sweet smell of Sting's red rose.

He told her while his blue eyes twinkled and saw the moonlight land on the spot where they were standing, "Remember those roses you saw when we entered Crocus? I picked this one for you, my love."

"Sting, it smells so sweet and it's really beautiful! I love it, but not as much as I love you! Since you gave me a rose, here's my reward to you for winning in the event today." She responded cheerfully, as she took his hands in hers.

Lucy pressed her lips against Sting's, and this kiss was different from their previous kisses. It had so much warmth, feelings of trust, gratitude, and love put into it. She had saved a powdered donut from earlier today, to make her lips taste like frosting as well. Sting returned the kiss with mutual feelings and affection for his girlfriend, and he blushed when his tongue accidentally licked her lips and broke the kiss.

However, Lucy restarted the kiss to make him feel better and make him see there was no need to apologize. Sting smiled as he kissed her, knowing that their love and good bond with each other brought so much happiness to them both while they kissed under the beautiful moonlight.

* * *

**How was Chapter 17? Sting and Lucy have both pulled off stunning victories in the Grand Magic Games, but can they keep this win streak going? Is Team Lavender Moon getting suspicious? Will Rogue tell Lucy what he saw in the book, and can Sting overcome a smart foe? Stick around for Chapter 18!**


	18. Chapter 18

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. Hiro Mashima does. This story was made for fun, and not for cash. (How unfortunate.)**

* * *

The members of Team Sabertooth had been ordered by Minerva to get up early, and they had to do a little bit of training before the third day of the Grand Magic Games would commence. She had instructed her five teammates that four wins meant that they couldn't get careless and make a single mistake, since Fairy Tail would probably be trying extra hard to beat them today.

After all, people like Natsu and Erza wouldn't just let Fairy Tail get second place and they certainly wouldn't let Sabertooth take the top spot at the very end of the Grand Magic Games. Whether they were taking the first two days seriously or not, Fairy Tail would await the day that they face off against Sabertooth and they would strike hard against their biggest foes.

Lucy was still disguised as Reināre, wearing a red T-shirt and some Daisy Dukes. (Those are brief, tight-fitting denim shorts for women, typically made from a pair of cutoff jeans, if you didn't know that before.) They made her rear look slightly larger, but she didn't mind looking a little bit curvier in the back. She finished her outfit for the day with some emerald green high heels that looked absolutely beautiful, too.

She sat across from Sting and Lector at a table in a pancake restaurant, and everyone was eating a stack of six chocolate pancakes that had whip cream swirled in an elegant manner at the top of the stack with chocolate chips surrounding it.

"It looks like using that fusion spell yesterday made the book recognize how powerful I'm becoming, guys! This is really incredible, and the book seems to be balancing my power as well!" She told them with a happy smile on her face, as she showed them that each section of the book had 15 readable spells for each type of magic now and some of them being highly powerful advanced spells. Of course, the spells in black text still hadn't been tested out yet.

Sting replied while confidently smirking, after chewing and swallowing one of his pancakes, "That's totally awesome! You're definitely getting stronger, that's for sure! We have four wins in succession so far, but remember what Minerva told you. You have different types of magic, but don't show off too much. That can be a downfall in the end, honestly."

Reināre wondered what Sting meant by this, and he calmly explained to her how everyone had seen her use Fire Magic, Earth Magic, and Lightning Magic. If she was going to compete today, then she had to switch to one of the other four remaining types of magic that were at her disposal in order to not let the other teams be able to form strategies and expose her weaknesses.

Then, the violet-eyed girl smiled happily when she understood what her boyfriend was telling her. She did have to use a different type of magic today, and she was glad that following the orders of her rival Minerva was not her top priority. If she had been training with Sting this morning, someone could've been eavesdropping and taking notes of how her spells work.

"Don't worry, Sting! I'm not about to give Natsu or anyone else free chances to see my weak spots because Fairy Tail is going down!" Reināre replied with a determined look in her purple eyes while she looked fierce about winning this competition for Team Sabertooth.

The white dragon slayer responded nicely, as his mouth was full with another chocolate pancake, "Yesterday, your fusion spell got me to think a little bit. I'm guessing the book has the power to give you clear and vivid mental images of new spells, since you always know how to use them in the best ways."

"Leave it to Sting-kun to find the perfect theory to everything! Not only is he the most intelligent wizard in Fiore, but he's also the strongest wizard in the world!" Lector added while smirking arrogantly at his best friend and eating his last chocolate pancake piece by piece.

Then, Sting told Reināre while putting his left hand on her right hand while having a poised facial expression, "I feel like I'm going to compete today, and I'm going to win it for you. After kicking a perverted guy's butt for me yesterday, it's the least I could do to return the favor to you."

Reināre felt a warm feeling overcome every part of her body, and she went to the other side of the table to hug Lector and also give Sting a kiss on the cheek for good luck. They both saw each other's cheeks blush pink like cotton candy afterwards, causing the two mages to smile and giggle. As they sighed happily while looking into each other's eyes, Lector was amazed when the yellow spell book suddenly turned green like an emerald.

He snapped his friends out of their flirtatious talking with eye contact to look at the clock, and the Grand Magic Games were starting in 15 minutes. Knowing the restaurant was far from the Domus Flau, Reināre immediately put jewels on the table. Then, she grabbed her book and the hands of her friends while using Dark Acceleration at quintuple her normal speed to easily reach the arena.

While she was running, Reināre's huge breeze made Natsu and Gray be spun around rapidly and their chili dogs were thrown towards Erza at high speeds. She immediately got angry at the boys, causing them to run to the Domus Flau with her not far behind them.

* * *

**5 minutes later…**

Reināre, Sting, and Lector made it to their team's booth to see that everyone else had gotten there before they did. It didn't really matter, since everyone wondered what the third day's event would be. Would it dangerous like Avalanche, or tricky like Hidden? Either way, it would have some kind of twist to efface any hopes of straightforwardly knowing the rules.

"Welcome to the third day of the Grand Magic Games, ladies and gentlemen! I can tell that Sabertooth is really bringing the heat, but the Fairy Tail teams aren't too far behind! Will they ever settle their rivalry, and can anyone topple them down? We'll have to see what thrills us all today!" Chapati exclaimed with an excited facial expression, wanting to see some more raging battles like Reināre's overwhelming victory over Bacchus yesterday.

"Let's see who is the best at working in sync with their magic, shall we?" Yajima commented, as a smile found its way on to his face.

The guest judge for the third day was Lahar, the Head Captain of the Custody Enforcement Unit and he was also a member of the Magic Council. He smiled while not saying anything, and only hoping he wouldn't have another situation like when him and Doranbolt found out that Jellal was posing as Mystogan. He also hoped that there wouldn't be cheaters this year, like Team Raven Tail.

Minerva told Reināre with a condescending and deriding look on her face while speaking in a mocking tone as she laughed, "Don't think you're hot stuff or a powerful shocker just because you beat Bacchus yesterday, Reināre-tan. I can only imagine how you'd fare against Jura or Kagura, if you had to fight them. Just like what you did the ground, you'd probably crack under pressure!"

Still wanting to keep her resolve about getting stronger and proving her worth to Sabertooth, Reināre retorted while fierceness found its way into her violet eyes as determination to win gave strength to her tightly clenched fists, "Don't count me out, Minerva! I won't lose to Lamia Scale, Mermaid Heel, or anyone from Fairy Tail! After the survival tournament, you won't be laughing when I make you cry!"

Both girls turned away from each other and looked displeased of each other while folding their arms, causing Sting and Rufus to both sigh sadly and feel sorry for anyone matched up against those two ferocious women if they were in the tag battle to represent Sabertooth tomorrow. If they could fight to a draw as enemies, would they possibly make a perfect team?

* * *

Then, everyone turned their attention to Chapati when he announced the event for the third day of the Grand Magic Games. It was going to be a game known as "Magical Paintball Prodigy." He explained that the participants would be teleported into a dense and overgrown forest whilst being sent to eight different ends of the playing field.

Any kind of magic was allowed, and there were some rules. If someone gets struck once by an opponent, whether the attack was from a paintball or a strike using magic, the attacker would gain more paintballs in their gun and the one who got attacked would be eliminated from the game. If a shooter runs out of paintballs or magical power, that would also be a way to fail at the event. Since this also took place in a strange forest, there were also giant brown snakes.

Team Fairy Tail A chose Erza to represent them, since she was known to be stealthy and could keep her guard up in a situation like this. That prompted her friend Milliana from Team Mermaid Heel and Ichiya from Team Blue Pegasus to join in on the fun, as Team Quatro Cerberus and Team Lavender Moon respectively volunteered two guys named Rocker and Kouta.

Wendy decided to compete for Team Fairy Tail B, prompting her best friend Chelia Blendy from Team Lamia Scale to volunteer and try to win. Before Reināre could ask Sting or Rufus if they wanted to do it, she found herself out on the completely magically repaired sandy battlefield with her green spell book teleported into Sting's hands.

"Minerva, why are you making me do it?" She asked with a stern look on her face, as she looked up at her rival and growled softly.

"Consider it payback for insulting my spotlight on the first day, Reināre-tan. Don't get your face colored with pink paint by Team Mermaid Heel, or you'll actually look really humiliated." Minerva responded while smirking sadistically and scoffing down at the violet-eyed girl.

Seeing that all she could do now was win for Sting and try to get Minerva to stop looking down on her, Reināre prepared to join the other competitors. However, she turned around and blushed cherry red with bliss when she heard Sting cheering loudly for her. He blew a kiss to her, and she caught it before putting it near her heart and smiling like victory was certainly assured for her. Then, she joined everyone else in the middle of the arena.

* * *

In the next minute, Mato commanded the field to open and the magical power caused the sandy battlefield to turn into a field of viridescent green grass with flowers blooming in many different areas of the battlefield. Large trees emerged from underground, growing to a towering height where the shining sun and clear blue sky were obscured from the participants.

All eight contestants were teleported to eight different parts of the forest, and the spectators were able to see everyone on Lacrima Vision screens. Reināre looked amazed when a yellow paintball gun with Sabertooth's guild mark on it appeared in her hands, but how would she find her opponents? Direct confrontation wasn't the best way to go, and she certainly wouldn't leave herself out in the open.

Then, remembering how she and Sting had to save people at the botanical gardens back in Tokiwa Town, Reināre quickly climbed up to the top of a nearby tree to get one of her ideas in action. In order to find her other competitors, what was she planning to do?

"All right, then! It's time to test out one of these advanced wind spells, so prepared to be blown away! Let's see how you all like the tenth wind spell known as Wind Radar!" Reināre yelled with a confident look on her face, as she saw the Wind Magic make seven green birds fly in a circle above her head.

Her body began to be surrounded by a green aura, and it seemed like this spell had given her the abilities of a sniper. She could somehow see every inch of the forest from overhead in her mind, and Reināre's thoughts were being linked to her wind birds. They all diverged to seven different directions while spinning like drills, as they were honing in on their targets.

One of them quickly spotted Rocker from Team Quatro Puppy, and it crashed into him while it was still spinning like a drill at high speeds. Then, a large blast of green wind energy immediately occurred and obliterated some of the trees. Rocker had a comically dazed look on his face, before being teleported back to his team's booth to show that he had been eliminated from the game.

Reināre smiled happily when her yellow paintball gun magically grew a little bit in size and increased its full paintball capacity from eight to sixteen as a reward for defeating an opponent. She still had a main target in this game, though. Reināre wondered if one of her birds encountered Erza, since she also disliked Titania for kicking her off of Team Natsu, hurting Sting, and then telling Lucy that she had to stop seeing him or she would be kicked out of the Fairy Tail guild.

Speaking of Erza, she had requipped into her Flame Empress Armor before shooting a paintball at a bush when she heard rustling sounds. The paintball made a large mess when it exploded, and Erza gasped in shock to see that she accidentally covered her friend Milliana in red paint.

Upon seeing her friend get eliminated from the game, Erza wondered how her senses could've mistook Milliana for Reināre. Was she just being paranoid because she remembered how that girl used to be in Fairy Tail, or was she trying to eliminate Sabertooth from this event as fast as possible?

Meanwhile, Kouta Kusanagi from Team Lavender Moon was struck in the back of the head when Ichiya from Blue Pegasus jumped down from a tree to strike him as revenge for what his teammate Laila Crescent did to Eve Tearm in the Avalanche event yesterday.

Kouta looked frustrated at first, but then he fired six purple paintballs at Ichiya before being eliminated from the game. One of them hit Ichiya's white tuxedo, and the large amount of paint in that paintball would probably make an irremovable stain. He angrily glared at Kouta, who snickered evilly before he was finally gone while Ichiya was eliminated shortly afterwards.

A smirk of delight found its way on to Reināre's face, now that half of the competitors were eliminated from the event. It would be much easier to find Erza without running into unnecessary trouble, even though her six remaining wind birds were still searching for the swordswoman. Still, where were Wendy and Chelia?

Then, upon hearing the sounds of something slithering and crashing through the forest, Reināre looked concerned when she heard two other girls screaming. One of those voices belonged to Wendy, prompting the violet-eyed girl to climb down the tree and use Dark Acceleration at quadruple her normal running speed to save her friend from being a snake's lunch.

Wendy and Chelia ran through the forest, obviously looking terrified of the giant snake tearing its way through the forest to try and eat them. They were running fast, until Chelia accidentally tripped. The large brown snake viciously lunged its head at her and had its mouth opened wide.

"I'm sorry, Wendy! Save yourself!" Chelia exclaimed while looking scared and closing her eyes to not see the snake coming towards her like a predator to its prey.

Suddenly, six green blasts of Wind Magic occurred in front of the girls and the snake was completely annihilated. While Chelia looked completely surprised, Wendy knew exactly what happened. She smiled happily to see Lucy a.k.a. Reināre standing behind her and smiling.

"I'm glad that you saved us, Reināre, but aren't we supposed to be foes in this event?" Chelia asked out of curiosity, wondering why Sabertooth would save someone from another guild.

"We may be on different teams, but I won't let my fellow competitors suffer untimely deaths. We're both friends with Wendy, so that makes us friends as well." Reināre replied to Chelia, smiling happily and shaking hands with the Sky God Slayer to make their friendship official.

However, the peace didn't last long. Before anyone could react, Chelia was hit in the back by one of Erza's red paintballs. Wendy and Reināre both looked shocked to see their friend eliminated from the game in such a sneaky way, but Reināre's shock turned to anger from realizing Erza did that just to progress further in the game.

"Wendy, get away from that Sabertooth woman! It's about time Fairy Tail makes those jerks pay for always embarrassing us and acting like we're lower than them!" Erza exclaimed sternly, giving Reināre a death glare and proceeding to aim her paintball gun at the Sabertooth woman.

"You're a real hypocrite, Erza. When I was in Fairy Tail, I heard from Gajeel about how you and your team kicked out Lucy Heartfilia and replaced her with Lisanna. You have no right to bash on Sabertooth because we don't act low like that! We don't treat people like that, we don't side with cheating bastards, and we don't barge into someone's guild to look for a stupid book!" Reināre replied with a vicious look in her purple eyes, her teeth turning into fangs and her fists being clenched whilst making some of the lies in her speech sound very believable. Remembering one of the new spells of Wind Magic, Reināre decided that it was time to test it out.

She stretched her arms out in opposite directions, and she began to swirl them around in a circular motion. In a few seconds, a green aura surrounded her left fist and it grew larger while it incessantly gathered up air for this new move. What would come from this new spell?

Even though she wasn't close to Erza, Reināre raised her fists at Titania and acted like she was punching her with great force in her left fist and looked pleasantly surprised when a large vortex of green wind energy headed towards Erza with the intention to strike her immensely. Unlike the other wind vortex, this one pulled the opponent towards it to do the most damage. Pretty effective against distant foes, was it not?

Erza couldn't requip fast enough to be shielded from the winds that were strengthened by Reināre's emotions, and the winds nearly tore her clothes apart. After being slammed backwards against a tree, Erza coughed up blood and she looked like she had taken quite a lot of damage. Before she could even finish a simple swear word to Reināre, Erza Scarlet was eliminated from the game.

Knowing Wendy was her only opponent left, the violet-eyed girl decided to end the game with one more wind attack. However, the young sky dragon slayer smiled at her best friend before deliberately aiming and firing her last orange paintball at a faraway tree.

"There's no reason for us to fight, and the rules eliminate anyone who runs out of paintballs. You just won the event without wasting one paintball, Reināre!" Wendy told her friend while giving her a hug and having happiness in her brown eyes.

Reināre giggled and smiled while hugging back, and she noticed her golden paintball gun had gotten a little bigger when she defeated Erza. Her full paintball capacity increased from sixteen to thirty-two, and then it immediately increased from thirty-two to sixty-four when Wendy surrendered and got sent back to the booth of Team Fairy Tail B.

* * *

The forest was immediately effaced, and the audience cheered wildly to see Reināre as the last person standing in the event. Not only that, but she had shown great sportsmanship in the game by saving Wendy and Chelia from being eaten by a giant snake.

"She wins it again, folks! Reināre Katsura is strong, sexy, stunning, smart, and stylish, you know! Her heart of gold and great sportsmanship certainly makes her a powerful and kind mage alike! Her wind powers blew my mind in a good way! Sabertooth gets 10 more points! It seems that there's no stopping a heroic hurricane like Reināre, everybody!" Chapati exclaimed while looking even more excited than yesterday, and spinning around in his chair while cheering and not caring that his black wig fell off.

The audience roared wildly, and many of spectators were cheering Reināre's name like she was the boss of the entire competition. She blushed a light shade of pink when her group of fan boys cheered for her, and she playfully blew kisses to them before going back to Sabertooth's booth.

"That was totally awesome, Reināre! You really blew the competition away in that event! I'm the luckiest guy in the world to have a powerful and sweet girlfriend!" Sting told her with a kind grin on his face, as he picked her up and hugged her before kissing her forehead.

"Thank you, Sting! I know you'll do great in your battle today, if you're chosen!" She responded with love in her violet eyes while smiling happily and giving Sting a thumbs-up while winking like he would do to her for good luck.

Minerva could only sneer at her rival, and look envious with a hint of shock. She thought Reināre would completely fail, but the result was the exact opposite. Reināre kept getting stronger with each passing day, Minerva would admit, but she would never admit that deep down her spell casting rival actually made her a little bit nervous. Did their draw possibly foreshadow Reināre improving like she had been doing?

"_Why would people care about Reināre? She's just getting lucky." _Minerva thought to herself, trying to clear the amazement from her mind.

* * *

**10 minutes later…**

The battles of day three were now ready to begin, and everyone looked thrilled while anticipating what kinds of battles they would get to witness today. Team Lavender Moon snickered evilly in their booth about something, obviously being up to no good.

"You did it when the judges were distracted, right?" Kaname asked Laila with an evil smirk on her face, before laughing.

"Yes, Kaname. Today's matches are about to make everyone have their eyes on us, and we'll simply save our true power for the final day." Laila replied with a devious look on her face while having the paper with the original list of the third day's battle matches on it.

With Team Lavender Moon having the real list with them, this means they obviously tampered with the matches and rigged them to their own liking for enjoyment.

* * *

The first battle was between Lyon Vastia of Team Lamia Scale and Yaeger from Team Quatro Cerberus. Lyon simply struck his opponent with ice eagles, and pinned him against the wall with them to quickly end the match. Lyon won the match, bringing Lamia Scale to a total of 32 points and leaving Quatro Cerberus with zero points.

* * *

The next battle was between Gajeel Redfox from Team Fairy Tail A and Beth Vanderwood from Team Mermaid Heel. Gajeel simply sent her flying into the air with his Iron Dragon's Roar, and he watched his opponent fall flat on her face when she hit the ground. Gajeel won the match, thus earning 10 points for Team Fairy Tail A and giving them a total of 50 points. Mermaid Heel had only 4 points, frustrating Kagura a little.

* * *

The third battle pitted Mirajane Strauss from Team Fairy Tail B against Kouta Kusanagi from the devious Team Lavender Moon. His outfit consisted of a slightly tattered black jacket with grey trimmings and sharp edges over a purple shirt, dark blue pants and brown shoes. His black hair was spiky and sectioned in two layers, his orange eyes positioned directly beneath the bangs of the layer closest to his face.

"It's not classy for a guy to pummel a girl, but I guess I'll have to make this quick." He said with a calm look on his face, as he glared at Mirajane and saw her transform into her Satan Soul: Sitri form. Kouta raised his arms above his head, and he used a spell known as Lavender Area to make the sky turn a lavender shade of purple.

Mira quickly flew into the air, and used Soul Extinction to defeat her calm and cocky opponent. The transparent black sphere turned into a purple blast of Darkness Magic, and the attack struck Kouta head on. Even though he was slammed through one of the walls with great force, the Lavender Area spell healed his wounds quickly. Looking calm and bored at the possible stalemate if the battle went on like this, Kouta forfeited the match. Fairy Tail B now had 52 points, leaving Lavender Moon in 6th place with 17 points.

* * *

"Finally, it's here! Nobody is going to beat me, and I know I'm going to get picked to battle! God, please let it be my turn!" Sting said to himself while looking completely psyched for the upcoming match.

"I know you're going to win, Sting! Since you told me about fusion spells, I'll give you last minute advice on chain spells. If the enemy uses shields or projectiles, use them against him or her. This will pay off greatly, trust me." Reināre told him with a confident smile on her face, as she held his left hand in hers to secretly transfer the ability of one of her Heavenly Body Magic spells to his White Dragon Slayer Magic.

The final match was obviously between Sabertooth and Blue Pegasus, since they were the only teams left to compete for the day. Everyone in the audience wondered if Reināre would be battling again, and they also wondered if Sabertooth could get their sixth straight win in a row.

"All right, folks! We've reached the final battle of day three! It's Sting Eucliffe from Sabertooth versus Hibiki Lates from Blue Pegasus! Can Sabertooth bring light to all the heat, power, shock, and wind they've been stirring up around here? Let's see if they can win!" Chapati shouted while looking hyped up, as he was ready to see another battle take place.

Sting jumped out on to the field to meet his opponent, who had a large crowd of girls cheering for Hibiki because he was very attractive. Sting immediately instigated the battle with White Dragon's Roar, but Hibiki smirked a little while neutralizing it with his Force Shield.

"You'll need much more power than that to break through these screens." Hibiki told him calmly while twirling a piece of his hair and smiling at all the girls behind him.

Then, he used Force Blast by making some data screens appear around Sting and explode. The explosion sent him rolling across the sandy battlefield, worrying Lucy a.k.a. Reināre. Sting had to get rid of those shields somehow, but what could he do? The white dragon slayer heard the sounds of booing from Natsu and Erza, frustrating him even more.

"Don't let those screens scare you, Sting! You may not know this, but you've got two new attacks that you can use! Trust me on this! You can turn this battle around quickly, Sting!" Reināre told him with a look on her face that told Sting she knew his victory was certain. She had used Heavenly Transfer, a spell of Heavenly Body Magic that gives allies new spells that fit their abilities perfectly and also transfers knowledge of those spells into the minds of the user's allies.

Sting decided to put his trust in his girlfriend, and his body began to be surrounded by a pink aura. Suddenly, in his mind for a moment, he was clearly seeing the two spells Reināre was talking about. Not only were they useful, but they would create a big win in the end.

"This battle will be ended right now, with these final screens!" Hibiki exclaimed arrogantly, thinking the odds were completely in his favor. However, he would be proven wrong.

Sting told him while having his usual cocky smirk on his face, "You're technically right, but here's the reason why you're actually wrong!"

When it looked like Sting was going to use a massive attack, Hibiki layered his screens in front of him to prevent him from taking any damage. Much to his shock, Sting released a slow-moving ball of white light from his mouth. Hibiki laughed at first, but then his eyes widened in shock when his body and his shields began to glow white as well. He found himself to be immobilized, and he could only look frustrated when Sting unleashed an attack from his mouth.

"White Dragon's Ultra Cannon!" Sting shouted, before releasing a white laser beam from his mouth. It broke through the first shield, and it suddenly grew in size and power. Then, the beam had enough power to break through the other nine shields whilst it grew exponentially like an attack increasing in succession.

The large beam of light struck Hibiki head-on, and it sent him flying into the air. He came crashing back down into the ground, and he was unconscious from taking so much damage.

"I can't believe it, folks! Sabertooth wins again! Six straight victories in a row, and that's never happened until this year! Sabertooth has 60 points, and a third perfect day in a row! Fairy Tail B and Fairy Tail A are right behind them with 52 and 50 points, respectively! Lamia Scale has 32 points, while Blue Pegasus and Lavender Moon respectively have 18 and 17 points, leaving Mermaid Heel with 4 points and Quatro Cerberus with nothing!" Chapati announced excitedly, since this competition was bound to get much more interesting.

* * *

**Later that day…**

To celebrate their sixth win in a row, Lucy a.k.a. Reināre had taken Sting and Lector to a sparkling lake of blue water in Crocus to show off a brand new move she invented in case they had to battle on water at some point during the competition.

Upon pointing the book towards the lake, it turned blue and the new spells for Water Magic had been written. Deciding to test one of them out, Reināre used a spell known as Glacial Whirlpool. She stretched her right hand out towards the lake, and the water began to spin in a clockwise manner to create a whirlpool. It seemed like a simple spell, but then it began to divide itself into a few miniature whirlpools that rose up from the ground and had a sky blue color.

The larger whirlpool rose up from the lake, leaving it as a barren crater. The six light blue whirlpools surrounding it began to slam against it, creating light blue explosions in the process and leaving light blue sparkles behind. From feeling their coldness, the sapphire blue whirlpool exploded into a massive blast of water energy. Not only could these attacks damage many foes, but also the lake and the grass surrounding it became icy and frozen over with blue icicles standing up straight and now making a hexagon around the circular lake.

"Now that is cool, literally saying while I'm also pleased at the same time." Sting said quietly while looking impressed at his girlfriend's new water spell, and realizing the spell book's versatility, flexibility, and malleability with all of the spells. Even though the water spells had so much power in them, Sting could only think about the black spells. What power were they containing?

Reināre responded while looking happy and also having determination in her violet eyes, "You know, we'll eventually have to face someone from Fairy Tail. When that time comes, I'm putting all my power into the black spells. It's true that we don't know what the unknown will bring, but it's worth a try!"

* * *

"Absolutely not! I forbid that to happen, Lucy!" Rogue exclaimed in a protective tone, before coming out of a nearby tree's shadow and glaring at her with his menacing red eyes.

Sting wondered why Rogue was so concerned like this. He was normally calm, but what shook him up so much that he had to spy on Sting and Lucy from the shadows? Did he know something about the book?

"Rogue, what's wrong?" Reināre asked while looking worried, as she and Sting walked over to him to hear his explanation.

"This will make me sound like a creep, but I've read your spell book while you're sleeping at night. I didn't know why I knew the language, until I remembered studying it last year out of curiosity. Anyway, this is important. Those black spells… are extremely restricted. The Magic Council banned them for a good reason." Rogue explained while shuddering a little, as he remembered the deadly feeling of a dark presence emanating from the black spells.

Sting believed what Rogue was saying, but he had to wonder how the black spells could be any different from the destructive forces of the other spells. Even if their only effect were to create huge explosions that would obliterate Crocus, then how would that make them different from any of the other types of magic?

"Look, if Lucy has to battle tomorrow, she'll just use Darkness Magic and Heavenly Body Magic. If those don't work well, then I'll let her test out the black spells. There's nothing to worry about, Rogue. Besides, she's been through a lot of drama in her life lately. I don't want her to fear anything, whether it's her power or herself. Don't scare her, man." Sting told his friend while putting a hand on his left shoulder and assuring him with a smile on his face that everything would be okay.

Lucy a.k.a. Reināre turned to black spells in the book to see what Rogue was talking about, but they didn't show any signs of anything being wrong. There were 15 spells, to keep it in sync with all the other types of magic, but Lucy knew they hadn't been working. They weren't triggered like the others, so Rogue must've found something odd about them.

"If you don't mind telling me, what's so bad about these spells for them to be restricted?" She asked with a curious facial expression, wanting to know what Rogue was keeping secret.

Rogue said while sighing and looking at Sting, "I'd rather not provoke a book that reacts to growth in emotions besides love and determination, if you know what I'm saying."

Not wanting to deal with Rogue's hints and riddles, since he didn't want Lucy to worry or cry like how she did when Natsu cheated on her, Sting faked his stomach growling loudly to get everyone's attention away from the black spells. What sort of huge effect would they possibly have, if they were used tomorrow?

To comfort Rogue, since he was also her friend Reināre used Dark Acceleration at triple her normal speed to take everyone to a ramen shop to celebrate Sabertooth's sixth victory in a row. Aside from cold drama, they all deserved delicious miso ramen that would be hot like Lucy's determination to beat Fairy Tail whether it was tomorrow or later on.

* * *

**How was Chapter 18? More StiCy chemistry is happening! Sting and Lucy are a good couple, so what will happen when they finally have the unavoidable fated tag-team battle against Fairy Tail? Will Lucy's new spells be enough to satisfy her, or will her opponents push her to the edge? Will the black spells finally be unleashed? Standby for the climaxing Chapter 19!**


	19. Chapter 19

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. Hiro Mashima does. This story was made for fun, and not for cash. (How unfortunate.)**

* * *

Sting had awoken to the sounds of birds chirping on the ledges of his room's balcony, along with light shining through the windows while the sun was rising into the sky. That signaled the end of the third night and the beginning of the fourth day of the Grand Magic Games. Sting knew the sponsors had never changed how the battle format went, even though they changed the events, and this was the day for the tag-team battle.

He still remembered how he and Rogue lost to Natsu and Gajeel last year, causing Jiemma to be extremely angry with them. Sting wanted to win against them as payback for Fairy Tail having Mavis to give them an easy strategy for victory. That was certainly an unfair advantage, was it not? He didn't want to just win for his sake, but he wanted to be partnered with Lucy because she had her reasons for wanting to get back at Fairy Tail. Natsu kicked her off of his team, and Lucy thought that by beating Fairy Tail that she would be stronger than how she was in the past.

Also, Sting had the intent of winning in his blue eyes from witnessing Natsu's brash and dense attitude firsthand during the Avalanche event. The fire dragon slayer referred to Lucy as useless, which definitely prompted him to get first place. Not only did Sting detest Natsu's attitude towards Lucy, but the fact that he had cheated on her with Lisanna and showed no remorse whatsoever about the whole situation only fueled Sting's drive to win today. He was going to make his girlfriend proud, especially if they were partnered up today.

Drifting his negative thoughts and passionate drive aside for a moment, Sting smiled a little when he saw his girlfriend sleeping and snoring softly while having her head on his chest while her hands were on the white dragon slayer's rock-hard abdominals. Lucy was smiling and blushing happily while she was still in her transformation as Reināre, and she let out a blissful sigh while she appeared to be having a wonderful dream. When she unconsciously planted a kiss on Sting's chest, he chuckled a little bit and ran his fingers through her long black hair.

The soft and warm feeling caused Lucy to slowly open her now violet eyes, and she blushed a deep shade of red while gasping a little when she looked up at Sting to see him chuckling happily from her lips giving soft kisses to his skin. She released her lips from his skin, and smiled when Sting put his arms around her waist. The duo laid under the white bed sheets together, realizing they were both nude, but they had trusted each other immensely to know that moves wouldn't be made in any way unless they wanted to reach that point in their relationship.

"Good morning, Sting. It's a beautiful morning for the fourth day, and that sunrise feels so renewing." Lucy told him while smiling in her mature and sultry voice as Reināre, before looking into her boyfriend's enchanting blue eyes and happily giggling.

"The sunrise isn't beautiful like you, though. Anyway, I hope you know that today is going to be where people battle in pairs for the tag-team battles. It's been like that ever since the Grand Magic Games first began. I just know it'll be some far from random matchup, since Sabertooth fought Fairy Tail last year. Good morning to you, too, by the way." Sting replied with his usual cocky grin, as he looked into her violet eyes and caressed her back softly.

Lucy had remembered last year's tag battle between Fairy Tail and Sabertooth, and she had been cheering for Natsu. This year, as Reināre, she was no longer weak like how she had been back then. If she were to compete alongside Sting, with Natsu and whoever as her opponent, if would definitely be a test to herself to see if her future could officially overcome her past. It would also be pretty lucky, if the matchup perfectly ended up in her favor.

Now that it was the fourth day, she also wondered what the event would be like. She knew from experience how Minerva injured her in the Naval Battle, but she also knew that was ancient history now that both of them were rivals on the same team. What would the event be like, with the past two events being different for the competition this year?

"Well, no matter who it is from Fairy Tail, we're going to win this thing! You know, I made my resolve to get stronger after seeing the sunrise when I woke up from a nightmare about Natsu and Lisanna. Today, I have a newfound resolve to beat Fairy Tail and defeat my past!" Lucy responded to Sting with confidence in her voice and strong determination in her violet eyes.

Sting could only smile at how much more emotionally strong Lucy had become, ever since the first job they did back in Iwa Town, and her confidence and strength in herself had really been improving. In fact, when she had been sparring with Sting after the games were held these past two days, their battles ended in a draw both times.

Reināre got off of Sting, and she got out of the bed to stand up and stretch her body out. She felt her muscles pop and relax, before proceeding to use Transformation Magic to make a pink T-shirt, a purple skirt, and some red high heels appear on her body. She certainly liked to wear skirts, which was also appealing in Sting's eyes.

She looked in the bedroom's brown bureau to see that her blue spell book had turned purple overnight, obviously meaning new spells of Darkness Magic had been unlocked. Despite not having much training in this type of magic, Reināre liked how its abilities of using gravity and speed as secondary powers came in handy.

While she began to read some of the new spells that were colored in purple text, Sting put on his clothes and he told himself that he was not going to lose this tag battle like him and Rogue had done last year against Natsu and Gajeel. He wasn't going to try and take on his opponents alone, either. A tag-team battle involved teamwork, and working in sync together was really the best way to make victory be assured.

"_I refuse to lose in front of Lucy! If she's my partner today, I'll hit those fairies twice as hard to show her how our training and efforts pay off greatly! I'm sure she's even unlocked the nearly impossible fusion, with her skill level!" _Sting thought while looking confident and narrowing his eyes, as they were brimming with strength and the overwhelming desire to be triumphant this year.

"I managed to overhear Minerva and the others say that they were going to get breakfast, so why don't we do the same and head to the arena? No need to worry, Sting. Our win streak is going to be great, just like when we use the black spells today! I know Rogue said I shouldn't, but I need to at least see what they can do." Reināre explained with a cheerful facial expression, before taking Sting's right hand in her left hand and running out of the room with him while she let out a soft giggle of happiness.

* * *

**15 minutes later…**

After getting some bags of chocolate donut holes and mochaccinos to drink for breakfast, Sting and Reināre were on their way to the entrance of the Domus Flau. Feeling the warmth from the shining sun, Reināre had a poised smirk on her face. Even as Reināre, Lucy still had the belief that a sunrise foreshadowed great things to come her way. Would she be correct?

As they made their way towards the entrance, someone quickly appeared in front of them with an awesome-looking black camera that had a great lens and other features like zooming in on things or changing the colors of things in the photos before they would be taken. Upon seeing his outfit and the camera replacing his scope lens, Sting and Reināre dropped their jaws while looking utterly shocked at who the photographer was.

He was Rīfu Furawā, the criminal that had been stopped from hurting people in the botanical gardens with his Plant Magic. However, Sting remembered how they just left him in the gardens with electricity shocking his body. The police in Tokiwa Town must not have apprehended him, and it seemed like he came to Fiore for a fresh start where hardly anyone knew who he was.

"No way, I can't believe it's you two!" He shouted with a shocked facial expression, upon recognizing the two people who beat him to a pulp in a place where he had the advantage.

"What are you doing here in Fiore?" Sting asked sternly, obviously ready if Rīfu was going to strike them while he thought they were off guard at the moment.

"After you guys pummeled me like I was some random chump, I evaded the cops and found a job in Fiore. No one knows my criminal history, and photography for Sorcerer Magazine is a bonus when you're the guest judge for the Grand Magic Games today." Rīfu explained in a casual tone while looking cocky and mischievous.

Reināre didn't even want to know how Rīfu became the guest judge for the fourth day, or how he had become a photographer, and she hid her feelings of shock with a smile on her face as she told him to take some pictures of her and Sting.

As Rīfu got to see Sting and Reināre kiss, do victory poses, make funny faces, and look flirtatious, he flashed the camera while turning it at different angles to get the best shots of the mages. Sting certainly had the confidence like a model to be in Wizard Magazine while Reināre had the beauty to become Miss Fiore.

After a few more pictures were taken, the happy couple went on their way towards the arena and also knew they were on their way to winning.

* * *

**10 minutes later…**

They arrived at Sabertooth's booth to see their teammates were already there, along with Jiemma. He had also remembered Sting's failure against Natsu, causing him to glare at the white dragon slayer like he was going to kill him if he didn't win. However, upon seeing Reināre's purple spell book turn pink, the guild master quickly stepped back and averted his eyes to the sandy battlefield.

"I'll tell you right now, Reināre. I'm competing in the event today, and the spotlight for Sabertooth will finally be on me. There's no way I'm letting you have all the fun." Minerva told her while looking sadistic about the possibility of the Naval Battle happening again. She could easily teleport her opponents out of the sphere, and earn those 10 points quickly.

Her violet-eyed rival honestly had no problem with Minerva competing, knowing the tiger lady wasn't the type to lose easily or hold back in the slightest. She would obviously strike hard against Fairy Tail; with them being the second-place guild that was trying to keep up with Sabertooth.

Right now, Reināre held Sting's hand in hers and she blushed a light shade of pink while amorously looking into his beautiful eyes. She didn't even pay much attention to Minerva continuing on about how she would crush Fairy Tail and be recognized as the strongest female mage in the Grand Magic Games. Reināre was about to rest her head on Sting's shoulder, but then Chapati turned on his microphone.

* * *

"Welcome to day four of the Grand Magic Games, ladies, gentlemen, boys, and girls! So far, Sabertooth is keeping the lead, but the Fairy Tail teams are right behind them with Lamia Scale following them! Can anyone rattle the standings in the tag-team battles and the event today? Will Sabertooth keep this consistent streak of good fortune? Let's see what happens!" Chapati shouted while having a smile on his face, knowing one of today's battles would be the best in the history of the Grand Magic Games.

Everyone looked curious as to what the event would be, since the last three had been pretty thrilling. What was going to happen? Would it be like the Naval Battle, or would something else transpire and be just as exciting to watch? Either way, the event would probably test the physical and mental abilities of the participants.

Chapati immediately stated that the event for the fourth day would be known as "Magical Memorization." The game, as weird as it sounded, would be mentally and physically challenging. The game involved eight magically-created black top hats like the ones some magicians would wear, and the players had to find a golden key that was hidden under one of them.

If they picked the right hat, that person would win the game and receive 10 points for their team. However, picking the wrong hat would get that person eliminated from the game. To make matters more complicated, not only would the hats decrease one by one when people got eliminated, but they would also shuffle around at the speed of light to make deducing the location of the key much harder. As usual, any kind of magic was allowed to win the game.

Team Quatro Cerberus picked Nobarly while Team Mermaid Heel picked Arania, as Team Lavender Moon and Team Blue Pegasus respectively chose Kyoka Nara and Jenny Realight. Team Lamia Scale chose Jura, and Fairy Tail teams A & B respectively chose Gray and Cana.

Minerva had already declared that she would do this event for Team Sabertooth, smirking sadistically as she teleported on to the field and already had a good plan of winning. With the spotlight being off of her for two days, Minerva would show the audience there was more to Sabertooth than Sting and Reināre.

* * *

Mato immediately announced for the field to open, thus causing eight black top hats to magically appear in front of the participants and one of them had a golden key under them. Of course, this was a game of pure luck. The first person to step up could possibly find it, which would give them 10 points.

The hats were lined up in a row from the participants' frontal view, and Nobarly pointed to the hat on the farthest to the left. The black top hat suddenly vanished in a puff of smoke, and nothing was under it. As he looked completely astounded, Nobarly was eliminated from the game and teleported back to his team's booth.

Arania shot a spider web from her hands, smiling confidently when it hit the middle hat of the seven remaining. That hat vanished as well, and had been concealing nothing. She was warped off the field, prompting Jenny to pick up the hat on the farthest to the right. Unsurprisingly, nothing was under it and the black top hat vanished in her hands. She was eliminated, just like Kyoka afterwards when she used a purple sword to slice the hat on the opposite end. Clearly, no one was getting lucky.

With only four hats remaining, Jura Neekis smirked confidently while making his Iron Rock Fist emerge from underground and strike the hat next to the one that was now on the far left. However, the key was nowhere to be found. Cana struck the hat in the middle with one of her cards, but the white smoke in its place left nothing behind for her. Now, only Gray and Minerva were left.

Gray looked shocked as he heard Chapati suddenly yell from the stands, "We have a winner, everybody! Minerva found the key, and I didn't even see her do it! She is really lucky, and that luck has earned Sabertooth 10 more points!"

This meant that Gray came in second place, frustrating him that he lost to Sabertooth again in an event. Upon seeing Minerva swing the key around her thumb and grin sadistically, Gray figured out what she had done. With the black hats concealing everything from the audience and other contestants, Minerva had teleported the golden key into her hands with an energy wave that no one had seen.

* * *

The audience and her teammates cheered for her while Fairy Tail booed her for using her magic to her advantage like she had done. Sabertooth now had seven victories, as opposed to the six victories in battles that the Fairy Tail teams had gained.

"Well, Reināre, it looks like the crowd is certainly enjoying my easy victory. I'd like to see you top that, if you even get picked for the tag-team battle. Don't hold me back, if we unfortunately have to work together." Minerva told her rival while scoffing and giving her a disapproving look when she teleported in between the violet-eyed girl and Sting.

Reināre responded as she was fiercely glaring into Minerva's green eyes and seeming eager to fight while her fists were tightened with tension, "I've got news for you, Minerva! If that battle is against Fairy Tail, then I'll slam them down with everything I've got! I have my motives for doing that, so don't get in my way!"

Minerva gulped a little bit and looked somewhat intimidated, as her body trembled from seeing Reināre's fierceness up close. Obviously, something huge was about to go down if that match occurred today.

* * *

**15 minutes later…**

The tag-team battles of day four had finally come around, with Bacchus & Nobarly from Quatro Cerberus going up against Kagura & Arania from Mermaid Heel. Kagura defeated both of the males with one slash of her unsheathed sword, possibly causing an airwave to strike them. Mermaid Heel won the match, and now had 14 points while Quatro Cerberus had zero points.

* * *

The 2nd battle was Kouta and Kyoka from Lavender Moon going up against Eve and Ren from Blue Pegasus. Kyoka was a slim young teenager with beautiful purple hair and eyes. She had pale creamy skin and a slender figure. She had ample cleavage and long nice legs. Her hair was shoulder length and was thick and bouncy. She wore a long sleeved V-Neck and plain white 3-buttoned shirt with collar underneath, short dark navy blue skirt and knee high dark navy blue socks with purple plimsols.

Kouta stayed calm with his hands in his pockets while finally wanting to show off his true power. He pointed at both of his opponents, causing thin purple beams to come from his fingers and strike them. The attack wasn't meant for damage, surprisingly. The purple beams reduced his opponents' physical and magical strength to zero, causing them to faint and make Lavender Moon win the match. They now had 30 points, leaving Blue Pegasus with 20.

* * *

The third match put Toby and Yuka from Team Lamia Scale against Juvia and Jellal from Fairy Tail B. (On the third night of the competition, Juvia and Lisanna switched teams since Lisanna didn't want to compete against Natsu.) Jellal immediately used Meteor, and followed up with his Grand Chariot spell to strike his foes. They were struck before Yuka could use a Wave Shield, thus ending the fight. Lamia Scale had 36 points while Fairy Tail B had 68.

* * *

Chapati announced with a thrilled expression while he looked at the names for the final match of the day, "This last match is sure to get all the couples in the stadium excited! You think Lacrima Vision screens are only in the arena, but they aren't! We've seen these two couples making out around town, and this is sure to be a good match! Just like last year, it's Fairy Tail versus Sabertooth! The best guild in Fiore once again, versus the guild who was the greatest last year! The match is Natsu and Lisanna versus Sting and Reināre!"

Upon hearing their names be announced, along with the names of their opponents, Reināre and Sting happily smiled at each other while also looking determined to win. Reināre had been reading the black spells, so she easily memorized them all well enough to test them out in this battle and leave her pink spell book in the hands of Rogue.

This battle meant everything to Lucy a.k.a. Reināre, and the time had finally arrived. Would she able to gain a victory for her guild of the present and future, and defeat the dense cheater and his rumor-spreading princess from her past? Had she finally become a stronger person, the exact opposite of her past self? She walked down the dark hallway with Sting while holding his right hand in her left hand, and the light leading into the battlefield came closer into view.

"_All right, this is it! This is finally the moment where Sting and I show off our chemistry, our bond, the results of all our training, and we'll teach Natsu and Lisanna a lesson or two while we're at it!"_ She thought while fierceness found its way into her violet eyes and light began to shine on her raven-black hair. When everyone saw the four mages come out on to the battlefield, roars and cheers shook the stadium. Wendy and Cana were cheering for Sabertooth, being Lucy's friends, despite that they were in Fairy Tail.

* * *

Sting and Reināre could only harshly glare at Natsu and Lisanna, obviously having their motives for wanting to win this match. They made eye contact with each other for a few seconds, having the loving bond to communicate fast and effectively form a beginning strategy. The wind blew through the stadium, as everyone could feel the sudden tension in the air. Clearly, these two teams had some conflicts that needed to be resolved in some way.

"You're about to lose again, Sting." Natsu said coldly, as he glared back at the white dragon slayer.

"Prepare to have your first taste of defeat, Reināre." Lisanna added, as she also glared at the violet-eyed girl and smirked a little.

When Mato allowed the match to begin, the Fairy Tail mages were astounded to see that the Sabertooth duo had suddenly vanished from the spots where they had been standing. Natsu and Lisanna both widened their eyes in shock, as Sting and Reināre immediately appeared in front of them and both started off the match with punches to their opponents' faces. Natsu and Lisanna were sent sliding backwards, the latter quickly going into her Animal Soul: Tigress Take-Over before lunging at Reināre to strike her with her sharp claws.

Lisanna slashed at Reināre with force in her claws, but the violet-eyed girl smirked while she simply dodged each of Lisanna's attack and used Darkness Magic from the middle finger of her right hand. Her opponent's style of attack was too direct, and Reināre narrowed her purple eyes while leaping backwards to gain distance between her and Lisanna.

"Your slashes are way too easy to read. I'll tell you what, Lisanna! Let's see if you'll be so quick to lunge at me, when I use this attack! Gravitational Darkness!" Reināre shouted fiercely while continuing to smirk with her fists clenched and having them both aimed at Lisanna.

In an instant, a purple sphere of energy appeared behind Lisanna and its strong gravitational pull was easily restricting her movement and dragging her towards the sphere. When Lisanna made the slightest amount of contact with the sphere, a purple blast of Darkness Magic occurred shortly after.

Natsu exclaimed while looking worried and letting his guard down for a moment, "Oh, no! Get up, Lisanna!"

This gave Sting the opportunity to hit Natsu with his White Dragon's Holy Breath attack, and his blue eyes were filled with confidence upon seeing Natsu get slammed into the wall that quickly became a cavernous hole.

"I've gotten stronger since the last time we fought, Natsu! Don't expect any letup from me!" Sting told him in a stern tone, remembering how awful Natsu had been to Lucy.

"You and your badmouthing girlfriend are going down, you bastard!" Natsu shouted while looking angry, and proceeding to use Fire Dragon's Brilliant Flame. He created a large fireball in his hands, and Natsu threw it towards Sting while also making flames engulf his fists to follow up his attack with a few fiery punches.

However, much to his shock and Sting's surprise, Reināre quickly appeared in front of her boyfriend and used a new spell of Heavenly Body Magic that was known as Cosmic Shield. She stretched her arms out with her palms open towards the fireball, and a large pink star-shaped shield appeared in front of her. It completely absorbed Natsu's large fireball, causing him to drop his jaw at what Reināre had done.

Unfortunately, this was only the first part of her attack. Her shield fired a pink beam of energy into the air, and quickly made numerous pink meteors fall from the sky and expedite their descent towards Natsu. Pink blasts of energy transpired on the battlefield, making the crowd gasp in excitement and awe.

When the smoke cleared, Natsu was down on the ground for a moment before he stood up and winced in pain from Reināre's powerful attack. She really was a strong opponent, despite Natsu underestimating her. He charged at her with flames surrounding his fists, but Sting quickly shielded her and hit the fire dragon slayer in the chest with his Holy Nova attack. A large blast of white light blinded the eyes of all the spectators, and it made the sound of an intense explosion.

"Don't even try to put a single finger on her, Salamander!" Sting yelled, maintaining his stern facial expression with his blue eyes narrowed while all the smoke began to fade away.

Natsu stood up once again, wincing in a little bit of pain while still being somewhat durable. He glared at Reināre, who could only giggle slightly from seeing Lisanna get back on her feet and walk over to her boyfriend. Fairy Tail never liked Sabertooth, from the first day they met, and Natsu was certainly not going to lose to Sting.

"Since when do you think you can order me around in a fight, you asshole?! Lisanna, let's get serious! We'll show him why I dumped Lucy for you, and crush him and his arrogant mouth!" Natsu bellowed angrily, before switching targets and going for Reināre this time.

The violet-eyed girl could only look angry from hearing Natsu's last sentence, and she clenched her fists with an extreme amount of tension. Her black hair obscured the determination in her eyes from Natsu's view, and she was about to try something that many people would think was impossible to do. Gathering up energy in the palm of her left hand, Reināre concentrated on the mental image of this powerful spell that had suddenly entered her mind.

A red sphere of Fire Magic appeared in her left palm, and it suddenly changed color to be an orange sphere of Earth Magic. Then, it turned into a yellow sphere of Lightning Magic. In a shocking and powerful blaze of fury, Reināre threw her attack at Natsu and she liked its great effect.

It was spinning rapidly at 300 miles per hour, and the color-changing sphere hit Natsu in the abdomen with extreme force. Then, from how Reināre had thrown the attack like a curveball, it carried Natsu into the air and created red, orange, and yellow explosions of energy in a triangle around the fire dragon slayer. He took immense damage from all three types of magic, even from Fire Magic. (The spells that Lucy/ Reināre uses in this story are not from normal or godly types of the elements that a dragon slayer or god slayer could eat, even if they tried.)

Makarov, Ooba, and Jiemma could only look appalled at what they were all witnessing. They were old people, and they had all known about the book that supposedly contained forbidden spells that could cause the world's end if the spell book ever got into the hands of a dark guild.

"_That's impossible and unbelievable! She knows about not only fusing spells, but also how to perfectly blend those three types of magic into the legendary Shining Sunset?! That hasn't been done in centuries, and she's mastered extremely advanced spells!" _All three old guild masters thought simultaneously, trembling a little bit from hearing about and seeing what spells Reināre was able to use whilst hoping she hadn't been using the book that a certain mage had created long ago.

Back on the battlefield, Sting was smiling proudly while easily dodging Lisanna's claws and he used White Dragon's Roar to push her a few feet away from him. Then, he waited for her to run towards him again. At the right moment, Sting grabbed Lisanna's left arm and threw her into the air.

While Natsu was falling down on to the battlefield, Reināre used a new spell of Wind Magic known as Air Guitar. A green electric guitar appeared in her hands while being plugged into a green amplifier that also appeared with the volume at maximum, prompting her to do a guitar solo with low and high notes that were released in the form of extremely loud rock music. (It sounded like an instrumental version of the song Revolution Deathsquad by Dragonforce.)

From where Reināre was pointing the guitar while she was playing it, the sound waves were directed at Lisanna and caused many green blasts of Wind Magic to occur around the silver-haired mage. She screamed in intense pain, and didn't know which was worse. The deafening music, or the power of the explosive sound waves when they were going through the air to strike her. She crashed into the ground, which put a satisfied smile on her musical opponent's face.

Turning her attention to Natsu, the raven black-haired girl could only have anger in her violet eyes upon seeing him grin and stick his tongue out at her like she was weaker than him or something. Refusing to let him have even a slim chance of winning, Reināre switched to Water Magic and activated an advanced spell known as Aqua Blizzard.

This spell temporarily made a dark rain cloud replace the blue sky above the sandy battlefield, and rain began to pour down from it with the effect of making the downpour only fall on Natsu's head. Then, four large pieces of hail descended on all sides of the fire dragon slayer. He wondered what was going to happen, feeling the ice to be extremely colder than what Gray could create.

Afterwards, the ice began to have a light blue glow reflecting off of it and four white beams of Ice Magic struck Natsu from all four diagonal corners. They didn't freeze him, but they did make a white light surround Natsu's body. The energy beams worked like a chain of successive strikes, and Natsu realized that the ice actually numbed his body from moving. He could only gasp in amazement at the large water twister that came down from the clouds, and it struck him head-on.

A large blast of blue energy filled the sky, followed by the four large pieces of hail exploding from the coldness inside of them and making four white blasts that were half the size of the blue blast. The crowd could only continue to look impressed at Reināre's spells landing hit after hit, and Natsu became furious when the rain cloud vanished to bring back the clear blue sky and shining sun.

"Damn it, you bitch! How many kinds of magic could you possibly have?" Natsu asked Reināre while he stood up and looked angry at the sight of Lisanna struggling to stand on her feet while she was bloodied, battered, and bruised from all the damage she had taken.

"I've only shown you seven of my types of magic, and there's one more. I've also shown you a few of my many spells, and Sting and me have only been using 10% of our strength. From what this battle looks like, you can't handle being played with. Although, you certainly know how to play with someone else's feelings." Reināre replied coldly, as the guitar and disappeared to let her have her arms folded whilst shooting a death glare at Natsu.

"Only seven? Reināre, you don't mean you're actually going to…!" Sting yelled while looking shocked, knowing full well the black spells hadn't been tested out yet and their type of magic was still currently an unknown.

Also, they needed a certain condition to be met for them to work. What if the spells fizzled out, and Natsu used that chance to defeat Sting and Reināre with one of his most powerful attacks? That wouldn't be good for Lucy a.k.a. Reināre, since she had the resolve to make Natsu pay for cheating on her and being a total jerk to her. He had kicked her off the team, and treated her like she was just garbage. Lucy hated him for hurting Sting as well, and she also hated him and Lisanna for acting like they had done nothing wrong.

Rogue had the pink spell book in his hands, but his red eyes widened in amazement from suddenly seeing the book disappear into a puff of black smoke. He wondered what had just happened, and he looked scared when he saw the black smoke in Reināre's hands and watched it fade away to reveal that the book had turned black like her hair.

"Wow, so you're going to read a book while you fight? You must be just as stupid as that useless bitch Lucy, or you're even more stupid and just as slutty as she is. I honestly don't get why you two came at me and Lisanna so hard, unless Lucy told you how we kicked that disgrace off of our team and hope she never plagues Fairy Tail with her whining and spoiled attitude ever again." Natsu told her with a cocky look on his face, as he began to laugh at his own insults in a taunting manner while looking at Reināre and Sting like they were fighting for someone who could never defend herself in a million years.

"Lucy needs to know who her replacement is, and it's going to stay that way. Nobody wants her in our guild because she's a total failure as a mage, and she'll continue to cry over Natsu kissing me and the fact that I'm his girlfriend." Lisanna added while walking over to Natsu, and kissing his lips passionately while she smiled.

By this point, Sting could see on Lucy a.k.a. Reināre's face that she was getting sick of their taunts. She was tired of them making fun of her, she was sick of taking abuse from them, and she was definitely getting tired of the dense boyfriend who had shattered her heart in the past. Her new self was stronger than anyone besides Sting had expected her to be, and now she was going to show him, Natsu, and Lisanna that she had trained hard to change from her former self.

Reināre shouted with hatred towards Natsu and Lisanna in her voice while reading the black spells and watching the black book glow as her black hair obscured the sudden look of malice in her violet eyes, "Time to test out these black spells, starting with the first one! Hellish Shadow!"

* * *

Sting thought the spells failed like usual, but then he leapt back upon seeing a black aura surround Reināre's body and begin to spiral around her. He could only wonder what was going on, as his girlfriend began to grow a few inches taller, taking on a more mature appearance, and her violet eyes changed, taking on a darker, more evil look. The ominous black aura tore her clothing off her body, now being replaced by a lacy black bra that showed off some cleavage and lacy black panties. She also had black gloves that ran right up her arms with small lengths of chains hanging from them, two black angel wings sprouting from her back, and black thigh-high heel boots.

Sting liked this erotic transformation, and he smiled happily at the fact that one of the black spells finally worked. Would their only effect be transformation, though, or something bigger to come afterwards? Upon seeing three black tomoe appear on the back of Reināre's neck, along with flame-like markings appearing across every visible part of her body (Like Sasuke Uchiha when he first used the power of the Cursed Seal of Heaven), Sting wondered what would happen next.

"If all your spells do is make you look like a total slut, then this'll be an easy victory!" Natsu shouted while arrogantly smirking at Reināre, and immediately using his ultimate spell known as Crimson Lotus: Exploding Flame Blade.

Lisanna stood behind her boyfriend ignited his arms and generated long torrents of flames from them, which moved to hit his enemies in a spiraling formation. Then, it turned into a powerful burning explosion of red flames. Natsu put all of his Fire Dragon Slayer Magic into this final attack that would assure his and Lisanna's victory over his opponents from Sabertooth, and he also put his anger into it as well.

The large flames made all the spectators leap backwards, especially the people who had front row seats. Minerva, Cana, and Wendy wondered if Sting and Reināre could survive against such a powerful attack, especially since they could feel the intense heat from the flames.

Suddenly, the flames began to be absorbed by something and everyone looked astounded when they saw that Reināre had made a clone of herself that held a red spell book in her left hand. She used a new advanced spell of Fire Magic known as Heat Blaze, which absorbed any kind of fire. Then, the clone vanished along with the red book into a white puff of smoke. The battlefield was now burnt, with Sting and Reināre nowhere to be seen.

"Well, that was easy." Lisanna said with a smile on her face, just as she was about to kiss Natsu's lips again.

Reināre asked evilly with a sadistic smirk on her face, as she and Sting came out of some black clouds of smoke that appeared behind their opponents, "What was so easy, you foolish girl?"

Lisanna and Natsu looked completely shocked that their opponents had not only survived the attack, but had evaded it completely to not get a single mark on them. Reināre used the second spell known as Black Teleport, a spell of Hellish Magic that protects the user and allies with a black shadow that takes any shape or form while optionally teleporting them to anywhere they wish to go.

* * *

**(Note: This part of the battle gets violent.)**

"Now, let's finally get to the serious part of this battle." Reināre said to her opponents with a look of malevolence on her face and viciousness in her violet eyes.

She began to move at quintuple speed, despite not even using Dark Acceleration, and she slashed her now long and black fingernails at Natsu. There appeared to be no damage at first from Sting's frontal view of the situation, but then he gasped in amazement when blood and heavy slash marks appeared on Natsu's back. He immediately screamed in pain, and could only watch as Reināre stomped her left foot on his left hand with extreme force to create a black blast of hellish energy.

"Get off of him right now!" Lisanna shouted with fierceness in her eyes, furiously lunging towards Reināre.

However, the violet-eyed girl simply unleashed a black vortex of Hellish Magic from her left hand and evilly smiled when it hit Lisanna in the chest and sent her flying backwards into a wall. A black explosion occurred afterwards, and Lisanna was almost unconscious when it quickly faded away. This spell was known as Shadow Vortex.

Reināre viciously slammed Natsu's face against a wall five times, before creating a black sphere of Hellish Magic with black smoke coming off of it in her right hand and throwing the fire dragon slayer at his girlfriend like he was a piece of trash. Then, she threw the black sphere at the duo with extreme speed. Unlike the other spheres, this one didn't seem to do damage.

Natsu and Lisanna became engulfed in the spheres of dark energy, and it looked like shadows or dark energy took the form of curved swords that were stabbing every part of their bodies. Blood began to come out of their arms and legs, causing them to scream in agony from the intense pain.

Sting asked Reināre while looking a little scared, "What kind of magic is this?"

"It's the power of shadows combined with the torture of hell, so I'd call it Hellish Shadow Magic. This next attack will make these fools beg for mercy." She replied harshly while canceling out the Shadow Immobilization spell, and sadistically smirking as she looked down at Natsu.

Reināre used a spell known as Hellish Illusion, causing Natsu and Lisanna to be trapped in dark voids in their minds. They found themselves tied up to dark walls in their minds, and the only light they could see was from Reināre's white sword that was stabbing them repeatedly. She began to make cuts on their arms and legs, and the shadows ripped open the wounds to make half of their appendages fall off. Reināre smirked evilly upon hearing them scream, but this spell only lasted a short time before they were released from their nightmares.

In reality, Reināre walked towards her opponents and her teeth had turned to fangs. She wondered whom she should play with first, Natsu or Lisanna. Upon remembering how Lisanna had spread those rumors bout her, Reināre decided to attack her first. She made her shadows tie themselves around the silver-haired mage's legs, and Reināre commanded her shadows to slam Lisanna around the arena.

The young Strauss sister was being brutally slammed into the walls, and the shadows were also constricting her legs with extreme force. Lisanna screamed in pure agony while this was happening, and she screamed even more when the shadows made deep cuts on her body. They gave her one final slam into the wall, before leaving her unconscious in a pool of her own blood.

While the shadows had been working on Lisanna, Reināre had begun her work on Natsu. With the malevolent black aura surrounding her body, she used little effort to twist Natsu's wrists while also trying to detach his arms from his body. She broke them in the process, and maliciously stomped her foot on his head. He managed to stand up one last time while he was bloody, bruised, battered, and extremely afraid.

* * *

Sting looked horrified, as the whole scene was unfolding. He had never seen his girlfriend get so vicious and malevolent before, and tears filled his eyes while he looked frightened by the whole scene. Even when he looked up at his teammates in Sabertooth's booth, they were shuddering in fear as well. Now he understood what Rogue was trying to tell him yesterday. The black spells were dangerous because they amplified a person's hatred and used Hellish Shadow Magic to torture them greatly.

"_No… That can't be… That can't be my sweet girlfriend having so much malice in her heart! All she wanted to do was to prove herself against Natsu and Lisanna, not this!" _Sting thought to himself, still looking horrified with his legs shaking and hands trembling with fear.

He wished Natsu hadn't been provoking her like he had been doing, even if he didn't know Reināre was Lucy, because this was the black book's way of delivering revenge and punishment to those who cause pain to the book's master. Sting interpreted this as the black spells controlling Lucy's heart, and it must've been filled with immense hatred and vengeance towards Natsu and Lisanna right now.

Upon seeing Reināre have a black axe in her hand, as it formed from the ominous black smoke, Sting knew what her final move would be. She would end Natsu and Lisanna for good, and then probably go after other people in Fairy Tail. Not wanting that dark prediction to happen, Sting knew what he had to do.

Sting exclaimed loudly as he saw Reināre pull her axe backwards, and predictably strike Natsu's neck, "Stop it, Reināre! Don't do it!"

He put his arms around her waist, and tears ran down his face. Even Natsu was shocked by what he was seeing. Sting was sniffling and hugging his girlfriend tightly, hoping his feelings of love would do something vital to ease the grave situation.

"You're my best friend, my lover, my best training partner, and you mean everything to me! I don't want you to become a murderer! Taking Natsu's life won't bring him back to you or Lisanna, but please come back to me. I love you with all my heart, you know? When it gets dark like this, I'll be your light. Remember when I said that, Reināre? You're not alone! I'm here for you. I'm in love with a sweet, kind, awesome girl. You know who she is? She's you." Sting told her while he was still crying, trying to get his girlfriend to remember her joys over her sorrows.

Everyone in the audience had their eyes on Sting, and his emotional speech was moving enough to make Reināre transform back into her original clothing. The flame-like markings receded from her body, and the three black tomoe vanished from the back of her neck. The look of malice in her violet eyes changed to a calm look, and she fell backwards into Sting's arms for him to catch her and hold her in a bridal-style fashion. Had his voice reached her mind, and did his feelings of love and care overpower the black spells? Speaking of the book, Sting's love had made it answer his pleas and it turned from black to pink.

* * *

"That was… Chilling, frightening, moving, thrilling, exciting, wicked, malicious, amazing, cool, hot, erotic, and romantic! Sabertooth gets 10 points, people! They are totally awesome! Cheer for the badass dude and his black-haired girlfriend!" Rīfu announced for Chapati, since the main announcer was still in a state of shock from Reināre showing a vicious side with an intention to kill.

Reināre slowly opened her eyes to find that she was in Sting's arms, and she blushed a light shade of pink while her left hand softly touched his cheek to make sure she wasn't dreaming. She had heard him calling out to her earlier, his amorous and passionate feelings of love telling her how she didn't need to go so far to get revenge.

"You saved my life before, and now you saved my mind and heart. I love you, Sting." She told him while a small smile appeared on her face, love slowly coming into her violet eyes.

"I love you, too, and you know what? Even if you hadn't used the black spells, in my opinion, you've become much better than your old self was. I mean, that triple attack with the fire, earth, and lightning was so awesome." Sting replied with a happy smile on his face, before letting her stand up.

Lucy a.k.a. Reināre mouthed some words to Sting while her blush became in between pink and red, and she twiddled her thumbs while asking something. Instead of words, Sting responded by giving his girlfriend a soft and passionate kiss on the lips as he held her hands in his and looked into her beautiful violet eyes. They really were the perfect team, always supporting each other and working together to accomplish a goal they both shared. As the confetti came down to end the fourth day, Sting and Reināre walked back to their team's booth while holding hands the whole way there. The crowd cheered excitedly after seeing the kiss, especially Cana and Wendy.

* * *

Meanwhile, Makarov, Mavis, Jiemma, Ooba, and Yajima all thought the same thing while they all shared expressions of shock and realization upon seeing the spells and the book change color, _"She is the next master of the book of malevolence that you wrote. You certainly were a good sorceress before turning evil like the legends say you did, Mal." _

* * *

**How was Chapter 19? That was quite the battle, huh? Well, the Grand Magic Games aren't over yet! What will happen on the fifth and final day during the survival tournament? Will Lucy help Sabertooth reach the top? Can she beat Fairy Tail? Who will be her opponents, and will she be able to outsmart a tactician like Mavis? What will happen later at night? Standby for Chapter 20!**


	20. Chapter 20

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. Hiro Mashima does. This story was made for fun, and not for cash. (How unfortunate.)**

* * *

Sting, Lucy, and Lector had gotten breakfast at a waffle shop in Crocus, and all three of them were happily smiling while cutting up their syrup-covered waffles and eating them piece by piece. Today was the fifth and final day of the Grand Magic Games, the day that would decide everything with its survival tournament. Of course, everything leading up to this day was pretty climactic as well.

Lucy had reverted back to her blonde hair and brown eyes, and she dipped a piece of her waffle into maple syrup before stabbing it with a fork and bringing the food up to her mouth. The waffles were delectable and sweet, just like how she was. She giggled while smiling down at her food, and noticing on the corner of her left eye that the pink spell book had turned red during the night and it was now radiating a red glow.

"Lucy-kun, or if you go by Reināre-kun now, you are really strong! That battle yesterday might've somewhat overshadowed how great Sting-kun is, but you sure made the other guilds see that Sabertooth is not to be underestimated!" Lector told her with a proud look on his face, still remembering all the spells Lucy had used to defeat Natsu and Lisanna.

"We can't underestimate our opponents, either. Don't forget, guys. Today's event is the Grand Magic Game, which involves all five members of the teams. This means that not only will Natsu and the rest of Fairy Tail probably want to fight you when you're Reināre, Lucy, but people like Jura and Kagura may also target you." Sting explained while having his blue eyes narrowed at his plate of blueberry waffles and seeming somewhat worried about the situation.

"You're right, Sting. In other words, we need to form a strategy that's effective enough for us to win these battles today. I know that it's probably impossible to use all eight types of magic from the book at the same time, and I don't want to use the black spells ever again. After what happened yesterday, I'm afraid of losing myself to them." Lucy replied calmly, feeling nervous since she wouldn't know how this whole thing would turn out.

Sting wasn't surprised that Lucy didn't want to use the black spells, since the power had taken control of her and caused her to nearly kill Natsu and Lisanna yesterday. However, he also didn't want her to become afraid of her own powers. After all, how could she ever be strong if she was too scared to use her abilities to their full extents?

He saw her hands trembling with worry about what would happen today, prompting Sting to gently caress his girlfriend's hands while trying to quell her nervousness and assure her that everything would be okay today. Sting knew when Lucy was nervous that more than one issue was bringing trouble to her mind, and he wanted to know what was troubling her. Of course, he wouldn't push for answers and make himself look like an overbearing jerk.

"You're worried about Fairy Tail retaliating for what happened yesterday, aren't you?" Sting asked while looking concerned, before going around to the other side of the table and placing a hand on his girlfriend's shoulder.

"They'll probably think someone like Minerva told me to beat up Natsu and Lisanna like that, so Natsu's team will possibly be trying to hunt down all of us. I bet Mavis, Fairy Tail's first guild master, already briefed them with a plan on how to defeat me and tear through each of my spells if I try attacking all five members of the team." She replied with a sad facial expression, knowing Mavis was an excellent tactician who had led Fairy Tail to victory last year with her strategies that were far from failing.

Sting knew and had heard all about Mavis helping Fairy Tail achieve their stunning victory in the Grand Magic Games last year, and he considered help from a ghost on the sidelines to be like a form of cheating. Also, from what he had witnessed and studied during the past year, Sting also found out from seeing Erza's Nakagami Armor that it was from Second Origin. That certainly was an unfair advantage, was it not?

He had to think of something that Lucy could do to outsmart Fairy Tail, but what would work? What could possibly help him and his girlfriend bring victory to Sabertooth? Suddenly, for a strange reason, he remembered the day him and Lucy trained together on the beach. Her clones had loved him like a harem, looking gorgeous in their bikinis while they blushed and giggled.

"That's it, Lucy! You can totally use all seven or optionally eight types of magic at the same time, and I know just how you can pull this off! Remember the Clone Magic you used on the beach? Well, that's going to be your base plan to our guild getting first place!" Sting exclaimed with a look of realization on his face while knowing that clones were efficient even though the Clone Magic was unappreciated these days.

She responded with a happy facial expression and satisfaction in her brown eyes after thinking about Sting's strategy for a few minutes, "That's one of the greatest ideas that I've ever heard, Sting! You are the most caring, thoughtful, handsome, and smartest guy ever!"

Lucy gave the white dragon slayer a warm and romantic kiss on the lips before he could respond to her compliments about him, and she had pink blush on her cheeks while her lips were locked with his. It wasn't just because she was enjoying the taste of blueberry syrup from tasting his lips, but she loved the fact that Sting was the greatest guy ever. To her, anyway.

He had certainly come a long way with her, from breaking her fall when she fell from one of Fairy Tail's library windows on the second floor, to helping her see she was better than her old self by assisting her in the tag battle yesterday against Natsu and Lisanna. Sting had been training with Lucy for months, and she had been getting stronger. Would all of their training pay off today, in the battles of the survival tournament?

The blonde-haired girl giggled happily, as she disguised herself as Reināre, and watched with a smile on her face as her clothes began to change. Her yellow T-shirt changed into a scarlet red vest top with the under-inside portion of her breasts exposed along with her stomach, her blue jeans changed into a crimson red skirt, and her white leather boots changed into cherry red high heels. (It seems like too much red, but you'll see the explanation for the one-color scheme later on.)

After seeing that the time on the clock was 8:45 a.m., and with the final day's event starting in 5 minutes, Sting, Lucy, and Lector quickly finished their waffles and paid for their food. Lucy a.k.a. Reināre used Dark Acceleration at quadruple her normal running speed, and she ran out of the restaurant with her friends.

* * *

She immediately stopped running when she found Minerva, Rogue, and Rufus standing in the park in Crocus, and they were obviously waiting for the event to start. Reināre asked where Orga was while she looked around for him, causing Minerva to scoff rudely at smirk at her rival who was participating in this event for the first time.

"Since you're still the newbie in Sabertooth, you should know that only five members can compete as a team in this event. I debated with Orga about him taking your place today, but he insisted on seeing your golden lightning zap the heads off of everybody. You better not hold us back, Reināre, and you better make Sabertooth win or I'll never forgive you!" Minerva explained while sternly looking at the violet-eyed girl, before having fierceness in her green eyes.

To give his girlfriend a brief explanation of this event's rules, Sting calmly told her that the battlefield would be the entire city of Crocus. Each of the teams had to decide on a leader, and none of the other teams knew who the leader would be. If she encounters someone from another team, a fight will start. If she won that fight, Reināre would earn a point for Team Sabertooth. If she defeated the leader of a team, Reināre would gain five points. She memorized Sting's advice, but unfortunately he had told her the old format.

Chapati announced from the judges' booth in the Domus Flau while sounding excited, "Since it's a new year with new things transpiring, here's how this survival game will work! When a member of a team is defeated, their opponent gets five points for their team! When the last person on a team is knocked out, the opponent's team gets 10 points! That totals up to 30 points, meaning that an extremely fast and strong person could earn 210 points overall for their team by defeating everybody else! Not only do you gain points from this event, but you are able to gain all the points that a team has accumulated up until now when they get eliminated from this event! The Grand Magic War Game starts now!"

Everyone could only grin in satisfaction at this shocking rule change, and they knew there was more than a slight chance to finally move up from their losses or keep ascending in wins for their respective guilds. Upon hearing the gong be struck for the event to begin, many of the mages began to split up into solos, duos, and trios. The members of Team Sabertooth diverged into five different directions, each person going on their own. Reināre's violet eyes were filled with the determination to win for her new guild, and she was going to do her best.

* * *

Mavis Vermilion said to Makarov with a calm facial expression as she looked at everyone on the Lacrima Vision screens for the audience in the Domus Flau, "I have faith that Fairy Tail can win once again. Both of our teams have skilled mages, and the strategies that I created are certainly on target."

"Have you come up with some kind of plan to defeat that Reināre girl, First Master? I haven't heard of her being an S-Class Mage or anywhere near the level of a Wizard Saint, so it shouldn't be too difficult." Makarov replied with a smile on his face, thinking Laxus or Erza could defeat the seemingly unstoppable violet-eyed girl.

She told him, as she began to frown a little bit, "I haven't figured out a way to deal with her yet, for two reasons. We obviously haven't seen all of her spells, and there's the grim possibility that she's learned many abilities from the forbidden book of malevolence that Mal had written all those centuries ago.

Makarov could only have a stern look on his face, from knowing that there was someone who was able to read the book that a sorceress named Mal had written. There were many history books about her, but varying things between them made it quite impossible to know the actual details of the sinister things she had done. One thing remained consistent throughout all of the books, though. She created all of the spells in the book she had written.

* * *

**Meanwhile…**

Reināre had taken Sting's advice, and she made seven other clones of herself that wore the same outfit that she did and had spell books. The only differences were the colors of the books and the outfits that varied from orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, pink, and black. The real Reināre was wearing red, of course, and she smiled confidently at her clones. Since they were her, they obviously knew what she was thinking and the eight girls didn't waste a second to go in eight different directions to find enemies and win this competition. Thankfully, no one saw this occur on the Lacrima Vision screens.

She hoped that her clones could get their jobs done, and Reināre ran off towards the lake in search for opponents to defeat. While she was running, Chapati had announced that all five members of Lamia Scale easily took down Team Quatro Cerberus. This meant that Team Mermaid Heel gained 30 points, currently giving them 44 points and putting them in fourth place. This also meant Team Quatro Cerberus was officially eliminated from the competition, leaving only seven teams.

On her way to the lake, however, Reināre's senses kicked in and her instincts told her to leap backwards immediately. She was thankful that she did, upon seeing Beth Vanderwood jump down from a rooftop and proceed to shoot Carrot Missiles at her opponent. Reināre was determined to not lose to anyone in this competition, as she remembered the time she told her rival Minerva that they would have a battle when no one else from another guild could get in the way of the girls' fight.

"My apologies, Beth. I have no quarrel with you, but you're getting in my way. Now, then. I'd like you to help me test out a new spell of Fire Magic, otherwise known as Blooming Fire." Reināre told her in a stern tone, before stomping her left foot against the ground.

In an instant, fiery lava ejected upward from the ground underneath Beth's feet and the hot geyser of fire sent the young girl flying through the air while she was now burnt to a crisp and unconscious from the powerful volcanic heat hitting her with tremendous force.

Beth had been burned out of the game, giving 5 points to Team Sabertooth. Reināre was about to cheer in happiness and do a victory pose, but then she quickly stepped back upon seeing Minerva suddenly teleport in front of her and give her a stern glare like she had made a rookie mistake.

"Don't waste your time and energy on the weak mages of this tournament, if you're actually smart. Didn't you hear the new rule change? When an entire team is defeated, the attacker gains all of their accumulated points. Let's just wait for the trash to be cleaned off of the streets, since pawns can be sacrificed in this war game of chess. When we eliminate a team, we'll take all their points." Minerva explained while giving her rival a disapproving look and using her Territory Magic to teleport the violet-eyed girl to another location.

* * *

**Elsewhere…**

On a street in Crocus, Kagura and the rest of her team were intensely glaring at the five members of Team Lavender Moon. While the four women were searching for opponents, they obviously didn't notice that Beth had separated from them by accident. The females had seen the specialties of these devious mages in their respective battles, except for one member who did not fight for the past four days.

She had brown hair, which was cut in a chin-length bob that framed her face, and brown eyes. She also had two rectangular, purple markings on each of her cheeks. She wore a long-sleeved black top and a light purple apron-skirt, under which she wore black shorts. She also wore a pair of black sandals, red stockings that stopped at her thighs, and a small red bracelet on her left wrist.

"My name is Kasumi Atsuko, and Mermaid Heel will be crushed by us! Now, Lavender Moon! Let's show these little girls that they'll be sorry that our two teams crossed paths!" The leader stated with a vicious facial expression, as she turned around to directly face Kyoka.

Kyoka stretched her arms out, with her palms facing opposite directions and two purple spheres of energy appearing the centers of her palms. She grinned sadistically, upon throwing them at Kagura. She felt nothing, as the sphere went into her chests, but then Kagura began to be surrounded by a purple aura.

Milliana was appalled when she suddenly saw Kagura unsheathe her sword, Archenemy, and the young swordswoman jumped into the air and slashed it with her sword. An enormous airwave caused many of the buildings surrounding the street to be destroyed, and the large piles of rubble had fallen on top of Risley and Arania.

Kagura watched with an evil grin on her face, as a building toppled over and crushed Milliana with its intense weight. The spectators were astounded to see Kagura attacking her own teammates, but it was actually Kyoka using a spell known as Moon Mind Destruction. This spell allowed the user to take control of an opponent's mind to do whatever they wanted, and it worked like a charm.

"Moon Mind Destruction, release!" Kyoka shouted while arrogantly smirking at the fact that another team had been eliminated, as she clasped her hands together and watched the purple aura leave Kagura's body and go back into Kyoka's palms.

Team Mermaid Heel had now been completely decimated, giving Team Lavender Moon 25 points from the event's format and also giving them a boost in points. The members of Team Lavender Moon now had 55 points, moving them up from 6th place to 4th place.

* * *

With only six teams remaining now, would the competition get much fiercer? Sabertooth still had the lead with 85 points, with Team Fairy Tail B and Team Fairy Tail A behind them in second and third place while respectively having 68 and 58 points. Lavender Moon had 55 points, Lamia Scale had 32, and Blue Pegasus had 20.

Speaking of Blue Pegasus, Eve Tearm and the Trimens came across the five members of Lavender Moon from seeing a large amount of smoke coming from the street where all the buildings had been obliterated. When he saw the mischievous mages smirking at him and his teammates, Eve could only smile confidently with some kind of plan up his sleeve.

* * *

**Elsewhere, in another part of Crocus…**

Reināre walked down a road in Crocus known as Glamour Street, a street with extravagant stores that were filled with some of Fiore's most fashionable clothing. However, there weren't any tourists here today. The street seemed to be deserted, and she had dispelled her clones when she hadn't found anyone.

"_Damn it, I haven't found a single person from Fairy Tail yet! Where is everybody?" _She thought, looking frustrated and miffed at the fact that she hadn't encountered any of her main enemies yet.

Well, Crocus was the capital of Fiore. It certainly was a big city, with its many blooming flowers, attractions, and districts for tourism and business. Unsurprisingly, the Fairy Tail teams would spread out and search for enemies. Mavis was a great tactician, after all, and it looked like she was beginning to give her orders to the mages on the Fairy Tail teams.

Upon seeing that Natsu was now in the park where Team Sabertooth started off earlier, Reināre prepared to run all the way back there to fight him and win for her guild. However, as she was running, she looked surprised to see familiar blond hair and red cat ears sitting down whilst hiding behind three large trashcans nearby.

"Sting, why are you and Lector here? Shouldn't you be hunting for opponents?" She asked curiously, with a smile on her face, as she went behind the trashcans to hide with her best friends.

At that moment, Sting looked somewhat depressed about that. He remembered last year when he had surrendered to Fairy Tail, and he knew how strong their team would've been even if he hadn't given up like he did. He didn't want to tell his girlfriend the truth, but he had just run away from Erza Scarlet. She had her back to him, but Sting didn't want to nearly lose his life like when Erza stabbed him for entering Fairy Tail after helping Lucy.

"I just don't want to get killed, ok? With people like Erza, Laxus, and Gajeel in Fairy Tail, I just got a little afraid of them taking their anger out on me for what happened in the tag battle yesterday. I'm so sorry if I sound like a total coward right now, but I just get scared when I have to face tough things alone sometimes." The white dragon slayer explained to Lucy with a sad look in his blue eyes, before sighing in disappointment and looking down at the ground while his hands were on his knees.

Lucy knew the feeling of being scared when she had to face tough things alone, like when she was kicked off of Team Natsu. It was a difficult thing for her to get past, but Sting had made everything better for her. He had been there to comfort her, and she was going to return the favor.

She replied while gently holding his hands and locking her violet eyes with his blue ones to give him a sense of comfort, "Sting, you don't have to worry like you're all alone. You'll never have to worry about being alone because I'm here for you. I'll help you face up to these challenges, Sting. I could never repay you for the countless times you've saved me on jobs, and I never could've gotten to be who I am today without your help. I may not be able to make predictions faster than Mavis, but I can do this!"

Reināre used the Clone Technique once again, and seven clones of herself in different-colored outfits with spell books in different colors appeared once again from white puffs of smoke. This time, she really had a plan that would her and Sting help their team win. However, before she could even explain anything, Reināre kept quiet and had her guard up when she heard soft footsteps in the area.

* * *

Taking a tiny peek over the garbage cans, she noticed that Erza was walking around while presumably searching for Reināre or Minerva. After what happened to Natsu and Lisanna in the tag battle yesterday, Erza most likely wasn't going to show any mercy. Her senses were heightened to tell her someone was nearby, but where were they? She heard the sound of shoveling, but where was it coming from?

Suddenly, Reināre and her clones emerged from a hole in front of Erza's feet and they all looked fierce while jumping up into the air and glaring down at Titania. Erza seemed a little shocked by Reināre and her clones appearing from the ground, but she quickly requipped into her Black Wing Armor.

"So the First Master's prediction was right. I would encounter an enemy here, but I didn't think it would be you. Well, then. It's time to get payback for what you did yesterday, you Sabertooth bitch." Erza said with a death glare on her face while speaking in a cold tone.

"Well, girls. It's time to assure victory for us, and our hot boyfriend named Sting. If we all stay here, we won't get to fight many opponents. I'll handle this alone." Reināre's risqué clone with the black spell book told the other girls while a vicious smile formed on her face as she went in front of them to face Erza.

Entrusting her clone in black with the job of defeating Erza, Reināre and her other clones used Dark Acceleration to go off somewhere else while their high speed kept Erza and the Lacrima Vision cameras from seeing that Sting and Lector were with the group of girls.

"You're going to go down, Reināre. I don't know why you brutally beat up Natsu and Lisanna for them not liking Lucy, since that's none of your concern. Even if she did tell you how Natsu kicked her off of the team, that has nothing to do with you. Understand that we have nothing personal against you." Erza said, pointing her sword at her opponent while retaining her harsh glare.

The clone replied evilly while her violet eyes were filled with malice, "You're really naïve, especially if you haven't figured out my identity by now. People like you piss me off, you know that? It's time for you to feel my rage, and let me destroy you now! Here's the second half of the black spells, you fool!"

Much to Erza's surprise, her opponent spat out black goop from her mouth. It struck Erza's feet, but this substance didn't feel hot like the Magma Liquid spell. She thought it was a futile attack, but shadows rose up from the large puddles of black goop. They threw Erza into the air, and the black goop morphed itself into small black spheres of dark energy. They floated up towards Erza, and surrounded her on every side.

Before she could even react, the copious amount of black spheres slammed themselves against her body and they felt like lead. Erza looked shocked at the fact that they were tearing her Black Wing Armor apart, and breaking through her wings like they were nothing. The spheres immediately detonated, making huge black explosions of Hellish Shadow Magic occur in midair and they were visible to everybody in Crocus. The crowd, especially Fairy Tail, looked horrified to see Erza revert back to her Heart Kreuz Armor and fall to the ground with a hard thud while she was unconscious.

"Now, then. If the point of this game is to eliminate the other opponents, then it's time to cause some trouble." Reināre's shadow-manipulating told herself with an evil and sadistic look on her face before disappearing into the shadows of the garbage cans to quickly travel through Crocus by utilizing the unrelenting darkness of shadows. She malevolently laughed, having a scheme of her own.

* * *

**Back at the Domus Flau…**

Mavis could only begin to cry while looking saddened that Erza Scarlet had been the first person from Fairy Tail to get defeated by someone from Sabertooth. Reināre's clone in black was obviously strong, and definitely vicious from the aura she gave off. That type of magic that she used hadn't been seen in centuries, and she clearly used an advanced spell.

"How could my prediction be off like that? By my calculations, Erza should've been able to defeat Reināre and there was a high chance of that girl using every spell of every type of magic that she knows to defend herself!" Mavis told Makarov, as she continued to cry and blame herself for Erza's loss.

Makarov replied while trying to calm her down as he sighed, "You forgot, First Master. That dark power is coming from the book Reināre wields, the book that Mal created. Her spells are immensely powerful, unsurprising that she was one of the first Dark Mages to be a Wizard Saint. We can only hope the black spells don't kill Erza or the others."

* * *

**At a library in Crocus…**

Gray and Rufus crossed paths once again in a library like the last time they had fought, and they were getting ready to do battle once again. Unfortunately, for them, the sound of the doors being blasted wide open put a halt to their rematch. They both turned around to see Reināre in a blue vest top, a blue skirt, and some blue high heels. It was obvious that the clones split up, to not restrict mobility and to make hiding more effective.

"Reināre, why are you here? Weren't you just fighting Erza?" Rufus asked in a curious manner, just as shocked, as Gray was to see her so soon.

"You know, my opponents from Fairy Tail will be like dominoes. One by one, they'll all go down. I refuse to lose to anyone from Team Natsu, Gray, and that includes you!" The violet-eyed girl replied, before opening up her blue book that radiated an azure glow.

* * *

**How was Chapter 20? I split the Grand Magic War Game into a two or three-part arc, since it does last long in the manga even without the Eclipse Gate arc concurrently happening. I apologize if Erza went down a little fast, but Reināre's evil clone from the black spells does not mess around from what you've seen. What will her plan be? Will Gray come to a realization about something? Will Lyon and Chelia have trouble with Reināre as well? Will Mira and Elfman want revenge? Standby for Chapter 21!**


	21. Chapter 21

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. This story was made for fun, and not for cash. (How unfortunate.)**

* * *

Rufus could only look bewildered at the fact that Reināre was here at the library right now, since Minerva had ordered everyone on Team Sabertooth to be in five different areas of Crocus. Why was Reināre here? If Gray could do it, he'd be getting rid of two mages instead of one. Upon seeing the azure glow from her blue spell book, Rufus hid behind a bookcase while Gray and Reināre were distracted. He knew something was about to go down, and Reināre's powerful spells could even make Minerva run and hide for cover.

The ice mage asked his new opponent in a calm tone while looking stern and having an icy aura surround his hands, "Reināre Katsura, right? Weren't you that new girl who wanted to join Fairy Tail, and suddenly disappeared when a violet light blinded everyone's eyes after you accidentally attacked Natsu?"

"That's an interesting question. I would've joined your rowdy little guild, but Natsu really didn't make a good first impression on me. Let's just say there are many things that I really dislike about him." She responded coldly, as her violet eyes shifted from the sight of a shirtless Gray to the Water Magic in her blue spell book.

Gray used Ice-Make: Ice Bringer to create two swords of ice in his hands, and he ran towards Reināre at high speeds. He swung them in a cross-pattern to slash at her twice, and he was successful when his swords of ice had cut off her arms and also knocked the blue book out of her hands. Gray was about to pick it up for her, but he looked amazed to see his opponent turning into a puddle of water before remolding back into her human appearance with her limbs reattached with no signs of injury like they had never been slashed off.

She confidently smirked while telling him that most people, who worked well with Water Magic, such as herself and Juvia, were able to use this type for making dense and durable water cover up their real bodies even if they were clones.

Then, she used a new advanced spell known as Aqua Pinball. She put her fingers together to make a circle, and a small blue ball of water quickly formed in the circular space between her hands. The blue sphere floated in midair, until Reināre punched it with her left hand and sent it towards Gray.

"Wow, what a straightforward attack. I hate to burst your bubble, Reināre, but old-fashioned moves like that won't work against anybody in this lifetime. Face it, you used up all your fancy moves in the first four days and you're unfortunately getting desperate." Gray told her with a kind smile on his face, as he jumped over the aqua blue sphere and heard it ricochet around the room while bouncing off the walls, shelves, books, and the floor of the library.

However, Gray just had to tempt fate. The one aqua blue pinball had suddenly turned into five after hearing it bounce off four areas, and the pinballs were fast whilst they had somehow increased in speed. Just because they were fast and yet made of water, that didn't give them small amounts of power. When one of them struck Gray's left shoulder, it made a damaging blue explosion occur and it left Gray with quite a bloody bruise.

"You see, these pinballs can't be destroyed unless their target is eliminated. When one of them bounces off of a substance, the drops left behind will form another pinball and move rapidly like liquid being combined with acidic gas particles. With every aqua pinball in the area, the spell increases their power and speed. To contradict and correct your statement, my book may be old like the past but I'm using abilities of the future." Reināre explained while still smirking, as Gray began to look frustrated.

He had been saving this move to use against Rufus and his seemingly eidetic memory, but it may be now or never for Reināre to be defeated. Gray activated Ice-Make Unlimited: One Sided Chaotic Dance to create a vast amount of icy swords and axes that were connected to a frozen with remarkable shaping speed. He sent them all flying towards her, but she simply smirked while the blue book radiated a cerulean glow.

She used another new spell known as Sapphire Bubble Shield, which had an interesting effect when it was activated. It made blue bubbles surround all of Gray's weapons, and all of the aqua pinballs. The icy weapons were being melted back down into water, causing the bubbles to split into many more so they would not explode. The ice mage looked completely appalled at the sight of all the blue bubbles filling the library, but what would happen next was sure to make him have some form of speech.

"_Wait a minute… From seeing how she's acted towards us… That time we went looking for the book, with how she's been so competitive towards us, and having so much malice towards Natsu and Lisanna in the tag-team battle.. No way! That's impossible! Reināre can't be Lucy! Their strengths are in two totally different leagues, but what is this feeling of familiarity that I keep sensing?!_ Gray thought to himself, as he was still speechless at the sight of this new spell.

Reināre simply put her left hand to her lips, and then acted like she was blowing a kiss. This gesture caused the blue bubbles to have a light blue glow, and they all quickly exploded into massive blasts of water energy. The blasts had obliterated everything in the library, leaving the building as a pile of rubble where it once stood. The violet-eyed girl smiled, as she was standing over an unconscious and heavily damaged Gray, and saw Rufus emerge from under some rocks. Sabertooth gained 5 more points, giving them a current score of 95.

"Next time, please warn me when you're going to use a spell like that. Also, Minerva might be a tad miffed that you derailed from her strategy." Rufus told her while dusting himself off, and seeing the victorious smile on his teammate's face.

* * *

**Concurrently…**

Lyon and Chelia were facing off against another one of Reināre's clones in one of the grassy fields of the city of Crocus, just like Erza and Gray had been doing. This clone wore a green vest top, a green skirt, and some green high heels. She also had a green spell book with her, which clearly meant that she possessed Wind Magic.

"We finally meet in battle, Reināre Katsura. It's quite amusing to see your clones on the Lacrima Vision screens, but my instincts are telling me that you're the real one. All the rumors say you're tough, but I'll prove them wrong right now!" Lyon told her with an arrogant facial expression while Chelia stood beside him and smirked as well with the thought that they could win.

Lyon activated his Ice-Make: Water Serpent attack to create a large spiraling serpent of ice, and he intended to freeze Reināre when the serpent came into contact with her. However, she simply shattered the frozen creature with a new spell known as Cyclone Kick. She jumped into the air, feeling the air make green drills of wind beneath her feet, and she began to spin at a rapid pace. The moment that her drilling feet made contact with the ice, they bulldozed right through the serpent and turned it into chunks of ice.

Chelia proceeded to try and strike Reināre with Sky God's Boreas, only to look shocked when she simply sucked up the black winds into her mouth and had a satisfied smile on her face. What new move was this clone going to use? Based on all the advanced spells, it would definitely not be a good to present to receive if you were her opponent.

"It's time for me to use this new spell! Let's see if you guys like Aerial Disk!" She shouted confidently while looking fierce, as she opened up her left palm. Reināre pulled her arm back to act like she was throwing a frisbee or a disk, and she let something loose from her hand.

Lyon and Chelia smirked in delight, thinking the attack obviously failed, but then they both gasped upon seeing a trail of green blasts of wind energy heading straight for them. Clearly, this spell was an attack and a fake-out. When released from the user's hand, they could control the disk with the power of Wind Magic and make it hone in on its targets.

Chelia attempted to stop the projectile with an attempt of her own, but she was too late. The disk struck the ground in between her and Lyon, causing them to be propelled into the air by the blast that came from the disk. Since Reināre technically blew her opponents away, she gained 10 more points for Team Sabertooth.

Sensing someone nearby, possibly behind the lonesome tree in the grassy field, the violet-eyed girl threw another Aerial Disk into air and watched it completely decimate the tree after making its green blast of energy. Toby and Yuka had secretly been waiting to finish her off in her moment of letting her guard down, but now that plan was failed since they were now blasted into the sky, giving 10 more points to Team Sabertooth.

* * *

**Elsewhere, on the bar street of Crocus…**

Mirajane and Elfman could only glare at the girl in front of them, and they were definitely determined to not lose this battle. They were facing off against Reināre's clone, who wielded the purple spell book of Darkness Magic, wore a purple vest top, a purple skirt, and some purple high heels.

Mira was very angry with Reināre for what she had done to her sister Lisanna in the tag-team battle yesterday, and she wanted to make Sabertooth pay for what they had done. It was a battle, but there was such a thing as sadistically going too far to win. Mira refused to lose Lisanna again, after thinking she had been dead for years and had now come back, especially since she was now resting in the infirmary because of the severe injuries she received yesterday.

"You're going to be eliminated right now, Reināre! This is for hurting Lisanna yesterday!" Mirajane told her with a death glare on her face, as she was now in her Satan Soul form. Elfman was angry too, but he preferred to not get in the way of his older sister and let her handle it.

She quickly used Soul Extinction, which made a black globe of energy form between her hands. Then, she made the globe fire a large black-purple beam that generated a devastating explosion. It had struck Reināre's clone before she could react with any spells, and she was sent crashing into a nearby building that quickly turned to rubble from the explosion.

However, before anyone could celebrate or be frustrated with a loss, the violet-eyed girl had turned into a white puff of smoke. She was only a clone, thus meaning that Mirajane and Elfman had been duped by a decoy of Reināre.

"Mira-nee, can you sense her magical power? Man, she's making this really confusing!" Elfman told her while looking annoyed at seeing Reināre and her six remaining clones on the Lacrima Vision screens.

* * *

**Back in the park…**

The real Lucy a.k.a. Reināre sat on a park bench with Sting and Lector, and all three of them were smiling about Team Sabertooth's current score of 115 points. Of course, Lucy had seen the points rising for the other teams as well. Natsu defeated Jenny and Ichiya from Blue Pegasus, earning 10 points for Team Fairy Tail A. They now had 68 points, equal to Team Fairy Tail B. The range of points between the top two guilds was 47 points, which could be narrowed if enough opponents were defeated in time.

Sting told his girlfriend while smiling, as he was doing some math in his head, "There are only six guilds left, so we might have victory sealed for us if Minerva's strategy was to take out people from the last two guilds to ensure our success! Lucy, all of our training will finally pay off!"

"I'm so happy, Sting. Ever since we started training, we've gotten so strong together. I really don't know how to thank you for making me into someone that I like better than my old self. If you hadn't been there to save me from that fall from the window, who knows where I'd be right now? That's really the reason why I used the Clone Technique. Getting as many points as I could was one of my ways to repay you." She replied nicely while blushing a light shade of pink, as she rested her head on his left shoulder.

Sting told her while chuckling a little and smelling the lovely blue raspberry scent in her hair, "Well, you didn't have to do that. Minerva would get upset if you strayed from her plan, but you did have a draw in a battle against her. Both of you would make good team captains, unsurprisingly."

He just had to speak of Minerva because a Lacrima Vision screen appeared in front of Sting and Reināre, and Minerva looked upset to know that a member of her team had defected from her strategic plan that she believed to be very useful for winning the Grand Magic Games. Upon looking at the background behind her, and also turning around, Sting dropped his jaw from seeing the town of Crocus being destroyed by numerous explosions of dark energy.

"Reināre, what is the meaning of ruining my perfect plan like this?" Minerva asked sternly while glaring at her and Sting, obviously intent on teaching the violet-eyed girl a lesson in rebelling against her plans and making herself look better than Minerva. Quite the rivalry, wouldn't you agree?

Before the real Reināre could reply, her eyes widened in shock to see her clone with the black book appear next to Minerva and laugh evilly while pushing her out of the way to be onscreen. She had a sadistic look on her face, and Sting could see that the members of Team Lavender Moon had obviously been defeated by Hellish Shadow Magic for them to be unconscious in the streets while bleeding heavily and being badly wounded while shadows were constricting them.

"I'm terribly sorry, Minerva, but I just couldn't help myself to getting some extra points. Besides, who really needs six teams remaining? Four teams is enough to let the real shit start from this point on, and I'm through with playing around with these heaps of garbage. Man, their painful screams were music to my ears. For what I've done, malicious is an understatement." The vicious clone replied with a devilish smirk on her face, as she began to laugh evilly again.

Quickly dispelling all of her clones, especially the malicious one, to free her victims from their intense pain, Reināre looked at the largest scoreboard on a Lacrima Vision screen in the sky to see that Team Sabertooth's amount of points rose from 115 to 145. The Fairy Tail teams had 68 points each to tie for second place. Jura Neekis had taken out the Trimens, Cana, and Juvia for Lamia Scale to be in third place with 62 points. Lavender Moon had 55 points and got fourth, leaving Blue Pegasus in fifth place with 20 points.

Lucy couldn't believe it. She nearly wanted to cry from seeing the scoreboard. Her guild of the present had defeated the guild of her past, and her hard work had finally paid off. She had fulfilled her resolve to become stronger, even if her clone was evil, and her new guild got first place in the Grand Magic Games. Words couldn't describe how she felt right now, knowing that Sabertooth had won.

Chapati announced while looking completely excited and thrilled at the stunning result, "With the eliminations of Lavender Moon, Blue Pegasus, and many other people, I call this event to a close! Sabertooth wins with 145 points overall! They are the best guild in Fiore again, folks! This is history to be made!"

* * *

**30 minutes later…**

After the entire city of Crocus had been repaired with magical power to look as perfect as it always did, all of the teams were back in their respective booths. Well, one team wasn't. They were out on the sandy battlefield being congratulated by Mato and all of the judges for the five-day tournament. Minerva smiled proudly, as she held the gold trophy, causing Erza to be angry with that.

Sting asked Lucy while she was still disguised as Reināre, "So… Since Sabertooth won, I was thinking of having a party in the guild to celebrate. Afterwards, we can go to your apartment in Kurai Town to celebrate as well. How does that sound?

She replied happily with her violet eyes twinkling as she blushed cherry red, "Of course we can have a party in the guild, Sting! I don't what we would do at my place, though. Unless you're thinking of…"

"What? No way! I wasn't thinking of that! I just get lost in your beautiful eyes and lose my way of saying things." Sting told her while blushing a deep shade of red, and getting flustered while looking at his girlfriend.

"Hey, Reināre. Don't forget that promise you made. You stated that after the survival tournament that you'd try and take me down. Well, I can assure you that our battle won't end in a draw this time. You'll be the one going down." Minerva interrupted with a stern look on her face, as she glared over at her rival and scoffed rudely while continuing to disapprove of her to hide her little amount of respect that she had from seeing Reināre in the tag battle.

The violet-eyed girl could only have a confident look on her face while she responded sternly as well, "I don't intend to back down, Minerva. I've mastered every spell, and I know many techniques."

Speaking of techniques, Lucy didn't realize that her technique was about to hit the 72-hour mark before it needed time to recharge its energy that had been depleted. It hadn't actually been 72 hours, but maintaining all the clones had used up a large amount of her magical power. A white puff of smoke filled the sandy battlefield to the surprise of the crowd, along with Minerva and Rufus, making everyone wonder what was happening.

When the smoke slowly faded away, Lucy Heartfilia had appeared in place of Reināre Katsura. She retained her red vest top, red skirt, and red high heels, though. She looked shocked upon seeing why everyone in Fairy Tail (minus Cana and Wendy) dropped their jaws in pure disbelief while looking like they saw a ghost.

Erza shouted while looking utterly surprised, "What the hell?! How..?! How in the world…?! I've been shown up by Lucy?!"

Gray commented with his jaw dropped as well, "I got my butt handed to me by Lucy?!"

Gajeel told them in a bored tone to break the shock, "Yes, Bunny-girl is the one who kicked your asses. We get it."

"There must be some total mistake! She cannot be Lucy! Lucy Heartfilia is the weakest person that I've ever met! She's spoiled, whiny, and stupid, but Reināre Katsura is smart and attractive! How can someone like Lucy be Reināre Katsura? It's completely impossible!" Natsu screamed while seeming utterly confused, as he was too dense to know about Transformation Magic.

Levy McGarden had been watching the games with her friends from Fairy Tail, and she began to put some pieces together for what was happening. She remembered the day that Lucy talked about going to Fairy Tail's library to find a book on spells, and then her eyes saw the red book in Lucy's right hand.

"_You sure are creative, Lu-chan. The book of malevolence says from rumors that the spells only work for a master. For you to do them through sheer effort, from what I saw these past few days, you have gotten stronger. Fairy Tail shouldn't be mad. Both of our teams did great, and they have nothing to be ashamed of. Although, I'm sure that no one expected you to be such a strong opponent." _Levy thought to herself while smiling down at her friend who was surprisingly receiving cheers instead of gasps and boos from the entire arena.

Makarov and Mavis were only able to stare at Lucy in shock, from seeing that Reināre was her. No one was expecting this, and Mirajane could only look like she had seen a ghost. Mostly because she hadn't seen Lucy in months, and because she was now a famous mage named Reināre Katsura.

Minerva exclaimed while angrily shoving Lucy aside, "Quit showing off all the time, Reināre! We all know you can transform into anything, including a stupid blonde fairy! As you can see, I'm holding the golden trophy! The spotlight is mine!"

Sting and Lucy said simultaneously to each other while looking a little embarassed, as they both blushed at the current situation while Sting caught Lucy before she fell, "This is going to be one long story to explain to everybody."

* * *

**How was Chapter 21? I apologize if the survival tournament seemed to go a bit too fast, but it didn't fit with my next idea. Well, more StiCy chemistry is coming in this story! What will happen later that night? Will some uninvited guests show up at Sabertooth's party? What will happen in Lucy's new apartment? Does the book still have more secrets that Makarov will reveal? Standby for Chapter 22!**


	22. Chapter 22

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. Hiro Mashima does. This story was made for fun, and not for cash. (How unfortunate.)**

* * *

The sight of Lucy appearing in the arena had definitely captured the attention of Team Natsu, prompting Natsu, Erza, and Gray to jump down on to the battlefield and shoot death glares at the other members of Team Sabertooth. How could Lucy be with them, and how could she be the famous girl known as Reināre Katsura? The members of Fairy Tail (minus Cana and Wendy) were astounded to know Lucy's power reached such a level, unsurprisingly.

"You're the great Reināre, Lucy? Wow, I never would've seen this coming! I just can't believe that it's you! We haven't seen you in months, and you've gotten so strong! Lucy, this is way too cool! You have to come back with us to Fairy Tail and join my team!" Natsu exclaimed with a smile on his face, obviously freaked out by Lucy's presence.

She could only turn her soft smile into a frown from what Natsu had just said. He wanted her to rejoin her old team, and he was acting like nothing had ever happened for everything to turn out the way it had. Was he really this dense, when it came to women? He would obviously kick Lisanna off the team now, due to Lucy being much stronger now.

She replied coldly with harshness in her eyes as she brutally slapped his hand away to deny his offer, "Natsu, you just don't realize what you did! You cheated on me, and you said I was dead weight to your team! Just because I'm stronger than I was before, you expect me to come back like you did nothing wrong? You'd just kick out Lisanna, and make me replace her. You can't even have me, anyway. There's a guy who sees my good points and doesn't just love me for my strength."

At that moment, Natsu gasped in shock from seeing Lucy rest her head on Sting's shoulder and blush a light shade of pink. The fire dragon slayer was utterly surprised to see that Lucy was with Sting now, and she obviously wasn't going to abandon him for a jerk that only appreciated her for her power. Unlike Natsu, Sting never thought of Lucy as a tool.

Erza asked Minerva with a stern look on her face, as she was just looking at the trophy and ignoring the whole situation, "You're okay with this, Minerva? Even though Lucy and Reināre are the same person?"

"Of course I'm fine with it, Erza. I actually empathize with that poor girl, though. Being cheated on is a pretty serious thing, you know. No wonder she doesn't want to go back with that stupid idiot. Besides, why should she go to a garbage guild like Fairy Tail? Any rival of mine stays in Sabertooth, regardless of the opinions of lowly trash." Minerva replied with a death glare on her face, before teleporting the Fairy Tail mages back into the stands where they belonged.

Sting could only try his best to comfort Lucy in this situation, knowing she was mostly angry on the inside for Natsu thinking it would be so easy for her to just join back up with him like he had never abused her in any way possible. He had quite the audacity to be thinking that she would want to be back with him, honestly. This was Sting's first relationship, but he had listened to Rogue's prior advice about cheaters continuing to cheat if they got back with their ex.

He didn't want to see Lucy cry over Natsu again, and Sting didn't want to lose his girlfriend to a stupid and sleazy jerk who would just break her heart repeatedly for his own enjoyment. He honestly wished that he could take Lucy's book, and hit Natsu in the head with it to give him some sense for once.

"Let's go celebrate this victorious day with some ice cream, shall we? I can't remember the last time I had a delectable and cold treat, ever since we left Castelia." Rufus suggested with a calm smile, trying to break all the tension that was in the air.

Seeing as they had nothing better to do at the moment, and with the party being held later tonight, why not use these hours to have some fun? Relaxation was certainly better than tension, was it not? Team Sabertooth walked out of the stadium, and the other teams in the order of the rankings soon followed them from highest to lowest in the Grand Magic Games.

Makarov could only have a stern look on his face, upon seeing that Lucy was now in possession of the red spell book that a sorceress named Mal had written, but then a small smile found its way on to his face from knowing Lucy had a good heart. The spells had been destructive and catastrophic in centuries past, mainly because of whoever found it, but the nature of the book master's heart and their personal growth tended to reflect how the spells work. For example, Lucy learning Transformation Magic was the cause of the book making its spells have malleability, flexibility, and versatility.

* * *

**45 minutes later…**

Since there weren't many ice cream shops in Crocus, Sting and the others decided to stop at the one in Nimbasa Town. Not only did this town provide ice cream, but it was Fiore's place of leisure and entertainment with its many attractions.

"Since Sabertooth is the best guild in Fiore once again, that means we'll get more jobs and more members. I hope no one gets the idea of slacking off." Minerva explained to her team with a stern facial expression, as her tone sounded as cold as the mint ice cream in her bowl.

She looked at Lucy when she put extra emphasis on every word in her last sentence, still knowing she was Sabertooth's newbie. Minerva wouldn't be surprised if Lucy did slack off, since the Grand Magic Games were now over. However, what happened next was sure surprising.

Lucy vanished into a puff of smoke, and Reināre reappeared in her place. Everyone looked shocked by what had just happened, even Sting. Why did Lucy suddenly transform, or did a transformation become undone? What was going on?

"Sorry, everyone! When that stuff with Natsu was going on earlier, I accidentally used the Heavenly Healing spell to restore my magical power. I guess it restored me to being Reināre, too." She explained while laughing a little bit, yet wondering if this was the book's doing in some way.

Sting could only smile happily and kiss his girlfriend on the lips for what he witnessed right now. Lucy had somehow mixed Transformation Magic with Heavenly Body Magic, since Heavenly Healing had never had that effect occur before. She was ascending to a higher level of skill, growing stronger most likely because of learning fusion spells and using her powers so effectively in battle that the book thought she was ready for more.

"Reināre, remind me to tell those new girls about how you tend to show off all your fancy moves like you own Sabertooth. You may be strong, I'll admit that, but don't act like you're some kind of legend because you know so many types of magic." Minerva told her in a condescending tone, as she smirked at her rival and scoffed a little.

"Just you wait, Minerva! We'll have a rematch one day, and I'm going to win!" The violet-eyed girl replied with a determined facial expression, as she ate her cotton candy ice cream.

Sting and Lector both thought while sighing a little and eating their ice cream, as they looked confident, _"I won't be surprised if it ends in a draw again. The way how those two fought last time was scary."_

* * *

**Meanwhile, at Fairy Tail…**

Erza still looked shocked from finding out that Lucy was Reināre, and she had to wonder if the book that she had was the same one that went missing from Fairy Tail. If so, then Lucy would have to be charged with stealing from a guild and also with creating a false identity. Erza sat at a table with Gray, obviously not taking this whole thing pretty well.

"I know you're mad about Lucy playing a trick like that and becoming unbelievably famous throughout Fiore, but we can't just retaliate against her without any proof. Did you ever think the Lucy we saw was actually a clone made by that Rufus bastard? I wouldn't put it past him to do that." Gray told her with a frown on his face, also finding this whole thing hard to understand.

Natsu added while him and Lisanna were at the bar and they both looked upset over this whole thing, "Lucy's really wanting to get her ass kicked for deceiving us like that! She left Fairy Tail, and we all thought she was going to jump off a cliff or something! Instead, she's been hanging around with Sting and his stupid crew! I'm gonna make them all pay for pulling crap like that on us like we're idiots!"

Erza wondered what kind of plan a dense person like Natsu could have for such a complicated matter like this. One thing was certain, though. They all wanted to get back at Lucy for being so harsh on them during the Grand Magic Games. Quite the hypocrites, were they not?

Unfortunately for Lucy, Natsu's enhanced hearing had allowed him to overhear about the party that Sabertooth was having tonight. He was going to make Lucy and Sting pay for what they had done to him and Lisanna in the tag battle, and he would make sure that they would be separated forever.

Gajeel commented from another table while he sat with Levy and snickered at the fire dragon slayer, "Salamander, you are a real idiot when it comes to girls. Bunny-girl left you because you chose Lisanna over her, and you actually think that was her you saw earlier today? I saw her, too, but something felt off to me. You, on the other hand, got your ass kicked by a different girl wielding a book. That was surprising, but remember. Bunny-girl has keys, and she wouldn't be caught dead without them."

Levy smiled a bit at Gajeel's theory, which possibly could clear up this whole thing. Maybe Reināre was just mocking Natsu. She had told him off on the first day of the real competition in the Grand Magic Games, and she was probably still mad about the fact that Team Natsu invaded Sabertooth and hurt Sting. Any girl wouldn't like seeing their boyfriend get hurt, and they would hate dealing with idiots.

Cana thought to herself while looking happy while she was cleaning a mug behind the bar, since Mirajane was out on a job, _"They can all go crazy over trying to figure out what they saw, but I think only Wendy and I know what happened earlier. That was weird, but cool."_

Natsu exclaimed while looking serious and slamming his fist down on the table, "Then, it's settled! Tonight, Sabertooth goes down like the assholes they are! They've embarrassed us too many times, since we crossed paths, and all their victories really pissed me off every day! Those guys will get what they deserve!"

Wendy and Carla could only predict that Natsu and the others would regret what they were going to do, since it was probably not going to end well. After all, Wendy knew exactly why Lucy and Sting fought so hard against Natsu and Lisanna in the tag-team battle, and they would fight that hard against them again if the two duos ever crossed paths again.

* * *

**A few hours later, close to nighttime…**

Everyone in the Sabertooth guild had bought supplies for the party that Sting really wanted to have tonight, and they knew it was going to be a great night. With desserts like cookies, brownies, cakes, pies, chocolates, and snacks such as Doritos, Cheetos, and Pringles while having many bottles of Coca-Cola, this party was probably going to be the party of the year.

Sting had bought an eight-layered chocolate cake that obviously had eight different kinds of chocolates making it up, and he placed it on the table that him and Lucy a.k.a. Reināre were sitting at. For the party, she had changed into a sky blue T-shirt with a cerulean blue skirt to match. Her new high heels were cobalt blue, which had been purchased in Crocus courtesy of Sting.

"This party is going to be the best party ever! I still can't believe that even mages on jobs showed up here, though." Sting told her with a smile on his face, as he looked over at Lyon Vastia and Flare Corona respectively eating some of the chocolates and drinking a bottle of soda.

"Anyone would show up to a great party that you had the idea to throw, Sting." Reināre told him with an amorous look on her face, before resting her head against his chest and sighing happily while she wrapped her arms around his neck and spoke in her sultry voice.

* * *

**(Note: This part contains some lemon.)**

Sting blushed and smiled at his girlfriend, as he began to stroke her back gently with his soft hands. Some romantic music began to play through the speaker in the ceiling, causing them both to blush while Sting took his girlfriend's left hand in his right hand and took her to his bedroom.

"Would you like to dance, my love?" He asked her while happily smiling, even though he didn't have experience in slow dancing properly like his teammates did.

Reināre replied with a blissful look on her face, after gently kissing Sting's cheek, "I'd love to dance with you, but it's so hot in here. Sting, I hope you don't mind me showing you all of my beauty."

She began to remove her blue skirt and sky blue shirt to leave herself exposed for the white dragon slayer, causing him to blush a deep shade of red. He could only stare at his girlfriend, who was now nude for him. Sting put his soft hands on her breasts, and massaged them before dancing with his girlfriend.

"Ohhhhhh…. Sting…. That's so good…." Reināre moaned with pink blush on her face, feeling good from what Sting was doing to her right now.

He let his hands stroke her arms a little bit to make her feel more comfort in this whole thing, and he was caressing her back while kissing her lips. His fingers danced lightly on her back, poking a few ticklish spots that caused her to giggle a little bit.

"You're so good to me, Sting. Let's just stay here tonight. I want you and me to share our love in bed." She whispered in a sultry tone, as she broke the kiss.

Sting couldn't agree more with that thought, and he began to kiss her neck while also taking off his pants and throwing them on the floor. He wanted her to be his tonight, to heal her pain, to be in sync with her love, and he wanted to give her a good amount of excitement in bed.

"I just feel so much chemistry between us. We've gotten so good together, and I never want it to end." He whispered in between kisses, upon hearing her happy sighs of pleasure and wanting to hear more.

Sting was feeling aroused by his girlfriend right now, and the good feeling of pleasure made everything much better for him. He took a deep breath, and he started to calm himself before continuing with his activities of making tonight be the best night ever.

"It's such a great night." She whispered with a smile on his face, before putting a finger to Sting's lips to make things seem much more enjoyable.

* * *

**In reality…**

Sting found part of the top layer of chocolate, the smallest and sweet layer of the chocolate cake, in his mouth and he looked flustered to see Reināre fully clothed. She was smiling happily while she had a comfortable look in her violet eyes while she looked like she was attempting to feed him something with the golden spoon she held in her left hand.

"Were you having an erotic fantasy?" She asked while blushing and giggling a little bit, before putting some more chocolate on the golden spoon.

Sting responded, as he looked somewhat shocked at her question while blushing immensely, "Not at all! I mean, I just thought you look great as you always do. You just fill my head with great thoughts of you, you know."

Reināre hugged Sting while giving him a comforting hug that told him she didn't mind what Sting thought of her. Even if it was perverted, Lucy loved the fact that Sting cared that much about her to fantasize like he did. Feeling his composure return to him, Sting gently took Lucy's hands in his and they began to dance together.

* * *

**Meanwhile, outside…**

Natsu and the rest of his team were outside of the Sabertooth guild, ready to go in and take out Sting and Lucy for what they had said and done in the Grand Magic Games. They really weren't happy with the fact that Lucy joined Sabertooth, seeing her as an enemy now.

They were going to crash this party, regardless of the consequences of their actions. Natsu planned to make Lucy pay for telling him off the way she had done earlier, and he refused to accept that she had become stronger.

As Natsu, Erza, Gray, and Lisanna were about to go in, however, they found something wrong. If there was a party going on, how come there was no one going in or coming out of the guild? A party had to have people, right? Something was definitely amiss.

Natsu had a stern look on his face, as he was about to knock on the door, but then he felt an unfamiliar and cold hand touch his left shoulder.

"Gray, hands off. Don't use magic on me." Natsu told him with his back turned to him, still trying to knock on the door.

Gray replied in a scared tone, since a cold hand was touching him as well, "That's not me, flame-brain."

Team Natsu turned around to see Reināre with a black aura surrounding her, as she was in her lacy black bra and lacy black panties from her Hellish Shadow Magic transformation. The smirk on her face was malicious, almost with a killing intent in her violet eyes.

"Fairy Tail is full of slack-jawed idiots, honestly. Using Hellish Illusion to make everyone see Lucy was a pretty evil idea, considering that I combined it with Shadow Smoke to make people think she was Lucy. Wow, you people are gullible. No matter, though. Their memories will be restored, and you'll know who she is soon enough." The evil clone from the black spells explained to the group, not telling them that they were under her illusion right now. (If it's an illusion, the clone isn't real either. The book protects its master at all costs, even activating spells of its own free will.)

Erza asked while feeling a vicious chill in the air, as her body started to shiver, "You sure don't act like Reināre. Who in the world are you?"

"I'm your former friend, Erza. You and the other assholes in Team Natsu shouldn't have acted like Sabertooth made enemies out of you. On the contrary, you hypocrites made a hateful enemy out of me."

**How was Chapter 22? Look what we have here, in all these twists! Lucy's hateful clone has trapped Team Natsu in a shadow illusion barrier of some kind, and she does not play around. Will Team Natsu be able to escape this illusion? Will there be more StiCy chemistry? Will Sting and Lucy continue to train, even after the Grand Magic Games? Will there be a hot spring again? Will romance and tension flare when the story turns up the heat? Standby for Chapter 23!**


	23. Chapter 23

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. Hiro Mashima does. This story was made for fun, and not for cash. (How unfortunate.)**

* * *

The following morning, Lucy and Sting knew they had to get back into their daily routine of training and doing jobs since they were both mages. However, despite knowing that Sabertooth had won, no one had really remembered what happened at the closing ceremony or later on that day. This was most likely because of the black spells, and how they not only had the ability to make illusions butt also have the power to erase the memories of the illusions as well from people's minds.

In other words, everything that happened yesterday after the Grand Magic War Game involving the revelation of Reināre Katsura being Lucy Heartfilia had been wiped clean from everyone's minds. Today was a new day, with new things to transpire. Lucy sat down on her white sofa in her apartment in Kurai Town, in her normal appearance of having blonde hair and brown eyes, as she was reading from the red spell book.

"_Hmmm… Even though Sabertooth won the Grand Magic Games, Sting and I still haven't unlocked every spell in the book. I wonder if these next few spells have to be unlocked in some weird way, like the ones that became readable after I did fusion spells." _Lucy thought to herself with a focused look on her face, upon turning to each section of magic and seeing that some spells were still unreadable and possibly on advanced levels.

Sting had a happy facial expression, as him and Lector sat down at the white table and shared a plate of glazed donuts for breakfast. Sting was not only excited to get back to helping Lucy train and become stronger, but he also wanted to get some more cash since he hardly had much money now.

"All right, I'm going to give you some more advice on spells. I think you know this, but you can fuse spells of the same type of magic together just like with different types. It may not seem like much, since it would be only one type of magic, but the end result is really good. Fusion spells are the best, especially with two or three spells used to create them." Sting explained to Lucy while his mouth was nearly full with half of a glazed donut.

"Wow, Sting! I can't believe that I could possibly create new fire, water, wind, lightning, earth, darkness, and heavenly spells by just fusing them together! Please show me how it works, wherever we're training today!" Lucy replied happily while smiling at her boyfriend, as the thought of great spells made its way into her head.

Sting was happy that his girlfriend wanted to learn something new, but there was one problem. Where would they train today? The white dragon slayer thought it would be good for Lucy to use Fire Magic today, since that type of magic had many offensive spells that needed to be controlled for them to not rage into a blaze that would cause ultimate destruction.

Upon giving it some thought for a few minutes while looking somewhat poised, Sting told Lucy in a calm tone, "I sadly don't have the slightest idea of where we should go, unfortunately. Well, it can't be helped. Let's just go to the guild and try to find a job. Maybe something will come up."

Lucy still wondered why she couldn't remember what happened yesterday after the party, but she quickly pushed those thoughts aside because today was a new day. Something would surely happen, since she never had a boring day in her life.

She had to give Sting some kind of a reward for helping her get strong enough to defeat Natsu in the Grand Magic Games, and he had also helped her improve her magical power, physical strength, and self-confidence. After Sting went out of his way to do so much for her, Lucy felt like a great form of her gratitude had to be given to her lifesaver and her savior.

"I just thought of something, Lucy! We have to see if there's a job in Katon Town today! It'll help you hone your skills in Fire Magic, and that'll be awesome. I just hope there's a job there, since it's pretty far out." Sting told her with a calm smile on his face, hoping his plan would work.

Lucy replied happily, as she picked up the red spell book, "Sting, you're so smart! That plan may be the best plan ever!"

Seeing this job opportunity as her chance to repay Sting, Lucy walked over to her boyfriend and she gave him a soft kiss on the lips to give him part of the reward he deserved for helping her ascend to this high level of skill.

She disguised herself as Reināre again, wearing a white T-shirt with a green skirt and some brown high heels to match. Today was going to be the day where she would repay Sting for all the kind and noble things he did for her, regardless if he said he didn't need anything.

* * *

**Meanwhile, at Fairy Tail…**

Team Natsu had been boasting about how they escaped from Reināre by simply overcoming her illusions of fear with the pain that they inflicted on themselves. Not really something to be bragging about, wouldn't you agree? Natsu kept touting about how him and his teammates escaped, much to everyone's chagrin.

"She wasn't so tough, people! We simply gave ourselves a few bruises, and she was instantly gone! That's the weakness of the great Reināre Katsura, everyone! I still don't see why someone mighty like her would defend someone weak like Lucy!" Natsu exclaimed while looking triumphant, as he stood on the table where Team Natsu was located and did a victory pose.

Natsu's constant belittling and incessant criticizing of Reināre and Lucy was starting to agitate a few people, ever since him and his team got thrown out of Sabertooth when they were looking for the book. They really hated hearing Natsu talk about Lucy behind her back, knowing she had left the guild to become stronger and could presumably return at any moment to shut Natsu's mouth.

Cana shouted while looking agitated about Natsu belaboring her best friend, "Natsu, just shut up! You're the real reason why Lucy left the guild in the first place, you idiot! I really don't want to encourage a search party or something, but I'd rather be where Lucy is instead of listening to you!"

Erza retorted for Natsu while shooting a glare at Cana, "Lucy was weak, and there was no real reason for her to be here. It's quite sad for any guild that accepts her, since she's always relying on her spirits. I still don't know how she could be a reason for Sting and Reināre fighting so hard in the tag battle in the Grand Magic Games. They may have good luck, but Lucy's luck ran out a long time ago."

Wendy thought with a smile on her face, as she sat at the same table with Cana, Levy, and Gajeel, _"We thought the same thing when we first knew she was Lucy, but look what happened. She's probably a master magician, and you guys hardly measure up to her."_

Gray shouted, as he looked confident while taking off his shirt, "Well, guys! Standing around here won't tell us why they're so defensive of Lucy, so let's go ask those guys in Sabertooth how they're affiliated with her. Besides, I have something I want Erza to ask them!"

Laxus thought with a simple sigh while passing by everyone, having seen Reināre's immense strength in the Grand Magic Games, _"Even though it doesn't concern me, that girl is a force to be reckoned with. Knowing Salamander, this will end badly for his team."_

* * *

**At the Sabertooth guild…**

Sting and Reināre were looking at the copious amount of flyers on the request board, but there were no jobs in Katon Town. Everyone there was probably happy, or they had other mages doing the tasks that needed to be done. Since the closest guild to Katon Town was Lavender Moon, they were obviously handling things.

Sting felt like facepalming himself upon remembering that, since Rufus had given everyone maps of Fiore with the locations of guilds on them. Of course, this was prior to his girlfriend joining Sabertooth, so she didn't get a large map like everybody else.

Reināre's violet eyes continued to scan the request board in search of jobs, and one flyer caught her eye. The job needed to be done in Magnolia, and the client was offering up 800,000 jewels with two special items as they had claimed. Apparently, they needed some mages to get rid of the intense heat waves that were burning up Magnolia.

"It may not be in Katon Town, but it would be wise for us to keep any innocent people from getting hurt by this heat." She told Sting with a smile on her face, as she gave him a soft hug and assured him that this job would make a good substitute.

Sting replied with a confident facial expression, after thinking about it, "You're absolutely right about that. I hope Natsu's not the one causing it, or I'll have to knock him out."

Lucy a.k.a. Reināre had to wonder if it was Natsu, since he was a fire dragon slayer. Still, why would he do it? He obviously wasn't having relationship problems with Lisanna, and Erza probably wouldn't influence him to kill people without a good reason. However, he was pretty dense to possibly see if fireworks could be seen during the day.

Wanting to stop Natsu or whoever this criminal was, Reināre clenched her fists with determination and she ran out of the guild with Sting following right behind her. Reināre wondered if this was some kind of plot to get her to rejoin Fairy Tail, and the fierceness in her violet eyes could tell anyone she wouldn't be falling for it.

The duo left the Sabertooth guild quickly, since Magnolia was under attack by heat waves, and they clearly knew that they needed to stop the source of the problem that was plaguing Magnolia. Reināre used the Dark Acceleration spell to help herself, Sting, and Lector move through the city and go across the water at quintuple Reināre's normal running speed.

* * *

When they reached the docks of Magnolia, Sting winced in pain from his shoes feeling like they were in extremely hot water. He noticed that the plants and trees were burning up, ice cream was melting, and some people were trying to make the best of this by grilling their food outside on the sidewalks. Everything was burning hot, but why?

Reināre used the Fire Tracker spell to pinpoint the main source of the heat, and a red sphere appeared above her and Sting with fire swirling around it. The sphere went off to what seemed to be where Magnolia's new hot springs were located, causing Reināre, Sting, and Lector to realize that it must be coming from there. This perpetrator manipulated heat, that's for sure.

Upon looking at the red spell book, Reināre exclaimed with confidence on her face while sounding determined to stop this heat wave from burning up the entire town, "It's time to see what this new spell can do! Let's see what you've got, Magma Merge!"

This spell caused the red sphere from Fire Tracker to emit a pulsating red glow, and it began to absorb all the heat from the heat waves. People all over Magnolia could feel the intense heat beginning to die down, giving them relief from the exasperating heat that could've given them life-threatening fevers and heat strokes. Magma Merge also had the abilities of absorbing fire, magma, lava, and heat from objects.

Sting smiled at the fact that his girlfriend had so many versatile and handy spells that could do almost anything, but what happened next was sure to be something he never saw coming. Reināre began to take off her white shirt and green skirt, leaving her in only a lacy red bra and lacy red panties. Even though Magma Merge effaced the heat waves, its side effect was cutting the temperature of 200 degrees in half to 100 degrees Fahrenheit.

Reināre wiped some sweat off of her forehead, blushing a little bit when she turned around to see Sting staring at her amorously like she was a beautiful goddess. She snapped her fingers in front of his face to snap him out of his love trance, and she giggled when Sting shook his head and was speechless while his calm blue eyes were now locked on his girlfriend's ample cleavage.

"I'm totally not trying to be perverted, but you're just so beautiful and hot! Your fire spells just make you really fiery, and you're so powerful! Our training is paying off! I mean, our love is really on! Damn it, I'm flustered by you when you're naked or in lingerie like that!" Sting exclaimed while blushing, as he tried to regain his composure and not sound like an idiot.

Reināre responded in her sultry voice with a flirtatious smirk on her face, as she picked up her clothes and put a finger to her boyfriend's lips while locking her violet eyes with his blue ones, "Relax, Sting. After we stop this criminal, I'm going to make you feel much better. Our love is wonderful and serene when you're with me, you know. Now let's go stop that criminal!"

Sting was hoping she would've said the love they shared was hot, but it was good to know that their relationship had come this far and still be so intact with passion, romance, and bliss. Having now known that there was hot springs in Magnolia, that reminded Sting of the time that him and Lucy were in the hot springs in Nimbasa Town. That was when Minerva had accused Sting of being a filthy pervert because he was getting frisky in the women's bathing area with Reināre, and that was how the rivalry between those two girls had been created.

He had hoped that his feelings wouldn't get him to do any perverted things, but he also remembered how Lucy trusted him. She knew that Sting wasn't the type of jerk who would put his hands anywhere he wanted without her permission, but would she love it if he did try to show how much he loved her? Returning his focus to the job at hand, Sting ran after his girlfriend to find the person who had induced all that heat.

* * *

**15 minutes later…**

Reināre, Sting, and Lector arrived at the bathhouse where the hot springs and showering areas were located. They knew that they couldn't just start questioning every bathing person, since that would make them look like idiotic perverts who were secretly spying on everyone. They needed something to come to them, but what?

Suddenly, Reināre's senses and Sting's enhanced hearing allowed them to jump out of the way of attacks that came from Natsu and Erza. The latter was in her Flame Empress Armor, and her Flame Sword was collecting flames from some lingering heat. Flames engulfed Natsu's fists, as he looked displeased to see Sting once again.

"Hello, Reināre. We didn't take your little illusion trick kindly last night, so we drew you out here for a real fight. We were hoping you'd come alone to make this easy, but you just had to bring Sting with you." Natsu explained, as he glared at the Sabertooth duo and had the intent to get payback on them for what happened in the tag-team battle.

At that moment, Reināre clenched her teeth and growled angrily while clenching her fists tightly. Not only had Natsu sent the flyer to the Sabertooth guild, but his fire attacks had conjured up those nearly devastating heat waves that could've killed someone? Him and Erza did all that, in order to draw out Reināre for a fight? Since they were using fire, she was going to give them a taste of their own medicine.

Sting shouted while looking shocked that his girlfriend would use the fire spells, "Are you crazy or something? Salamander eats flames, and Erza can absorb them with her sword! Wouldn't water be better to use, since we're near the hot springs?"

"You're forgetting something, Sting. My fire spells aren't just attacks. They have enough versatility to put these two in their place. Besides, I don't back down from mediocre opponents who don't know how to show respect to their superiors. We won the Grand Magic Games fairly, and these fairies are sore losers." She replied with a stern glare on her face, as she narrowed her eyes at Natsu and Erza.

Unbeknownst to the white dragon slayer, Reināre had learned a few new fire spells besides Magma Merge. What would come from these unknown spells, since they were capable of having such flexibility and being malleable like Molding Magic?

Natsu immediately lunged towards Reināre, and he looked extremely angry whilst swinging at her with his flaming fists. She dodged them with the slightest of movements, and Reināre used all of her fury to give Natsu a punch that was hard like the earth beneath them. She struck him in the abdomen, and the force of her punch slammed Natsu against Erza.

Quickly getting Natsu off of her with a simple kick to the groin, Erza dashed at Reināre and made a second Flame Sword appear in her empty left hand. She began to slash at the violet-eyed girl with her flaming swords, but Reināre smirked and suddenly vanished. She quickly reappeared behind Erza, and delivered a harsh kick to her back. Erza coughed up some blood, and she slid across the ground for a few seconds.

She asked harshly with a glare on face while getting up and turning around to face Reināre, "Tell me something. Why did you fight so hard for Lucy in the tag-team battle? Why would you stick up for her, and get into a matter that had absolutely nothing to do with you? If she comes back to Fairy Tail, she'll end up being your enemy since we're rival guilds! Also, that stuff between her and us is none of your concern!"

Lucy a.k.a. Reināre replied with a determined and fierce facial expression, as she looked at Sting for advice on a lie and then looked up at Erza, "We may be enemies someday, but for now… I'm not gonna let you guys hurt her ever again! I feel sorry for her! Erza and Natsu, you guys are too cruel! You kicked her off the team, and you didn't feel sorry for her at all?! She was crying so hard when she told me about what you guys said! Then, Natsu cheated on her and treated her like crap! I'll never forgive you guys for being so low!"

Natsu had heard enough from Reināre, and he angrily lunged towards her again while putting 90% of his magical power into his Fire Dragon's Brilliant Flame. He threw the extremely large fireball at her, only to look utterly shocked at the sight of the fireball splitting into smaller fireballs that were beginning to spiral around his opponent.

The fireballs began to be absorbed into her left index finger, one by one, much to everyone's surprise. This spell was known as Conflagration Control, since it allowed the user to take control of their opponent's fire attacks and turn it into whatever they wished. This spell had an interesting effect, too.

Every time Reināre absorbed a fireball, the power of her fire spells grew exponentially. Since she had turned one of Natsu's ultimate attacks into a copious amount of fireballs, her next attack is where this fight would get real. Even Erza began to tremble a bit, upon seeing the red aura surround Reināre's body.

Sting could only gasp in awe, as he saw the red spell book emit a radiant glow in various shades of red. He had to wonder if the book had been evolving all the spells into trump cards, due to them fusing together sometimes and seeming stronger than ever after they had defused.

Reināre shouted fiercely with strong amounts of determination in her voice and confidence in her eyes while glaring at Natsu and putting everything she had into this attack, "With this finishing blow, this feud is going to end! You're going down, Natsu! Let's see how you like Fire Demon's Fusion Flare!"

While it seemed like nothing had happened, Natsu and Sting used their enhanced hearing to detect the sounds of something that seemed to be coming down from the sky. They looked up to see fireballs in all shades of red coming from all eight normal directions, and they were all honed in on Natsu and Erza. The Fairy Tail mages began to be surrounded by a red aura, obviously demanding an explanation.

"Surprise, guys! All those fireballs are now attracted to you, as if you're intense sources of heat!" The violet-eyed girl explained, seeing the instructions and the end result for the spell in her mind.

Natsu and Erza were paralyzed with fear, as fireballs crashed into them at high speeds and created explosions in various shades of red whilst doing massive damage. Since the spell was known as Fire Demon's Magic, Natsu was unable to eat the flames. Him and Erza screamed in pain, upon taking hit after hit from the fireballs and the flames left behind in their aftermath.

Luckily, no one was in the bathhouse to hear the explosions or see the fireballs up close. The fire did make Reināre sweat, though. She found the hot temperatures to be somewhat satisfying, especially when the final fireball was scarlet red and did much more damage than the others. To not attract suspicion, Reināre used Conflagration Control to absorb all the flames into the index finger of her left hand.

Sting whispered with an amazed facial expression while taking Reināre and Lector into the bathhouse, "That was hot."

* * *

**10 minutes later…**

Reināre had been bathing alone in the women's bath, and she felt the hot water soothe her creaky joints and tired muscles. She was happy to teach Natsu and Erza a lesson, even if they had lied about the mission. Interestingly enough, they partly made false claims. Natsu had been hiding a bag of 800,000 jewels underground, along with a black box that contained a cherry cake and a red orb. At least they didn't lie about the reward.

She looked up at the sky for a few seconds, remembering how she needed a way to thank Sting and show him her gratitude for everything that he had selflessly done for her. She was going to split the reward money with him, but him and Lector had disappeared when she was ready to go down a hallway into the changing rooms for women. Had they gone the other way instead?

Lector didn't like hot water, since he was a cat, so he obviously stayed in the lobby of the bathhouse. Still, it wasn't like Sting to abandon his girlfriend like this. Reināre sighed sadly, as she removed her red bra and red panties, and she saw some bubbles in front of her. Who else could be in here with her? Swimming back a little, Reināre gulped and looked nervous to see the intruder.

She almost screamed when Sting rose up from the water, and she blushed a little bit when he realized his face was directly in front of her large breasts. Sting's face turned red like a cherry, obviously trying to explain the situation.

* * *

**(Note: This part contains lemon.)**

Sting closed his eyes, thinking he would get a large slap in the face for secretly hiding in wait to surprise his girlfriend. Instead, he was surprised to see Reināre swim towards him and kiss him on the lips. This kiss was so romantic, and Sting could only return the kiss while putting his arms around her back and moving his left hand back to the front of Reināre to massage her left breast a little bit.

"Ohhhh… Sting, you're so good at pleasuring me… Don't keep your feelings bottled up any longer… Let them out!" Reināre told him while she was blushing and eliciting a few soft moans of satisfaction from Sting caressing her back and getting rubbing her left breast.

He truly did have soft hands, and he gulped upon obeying his girlfriend's wish. He held her in a bridal-style fashion, and he gave her a calming kiss on her left cheek before letting his mouth travel to her right nipple and suck on it gently. His hands went down to her arms, giving gentle rubs to a few sore spots and giving her some soothing relief.

"Ever since we've been together, I've wanted you to know that I'm yours and you're my love. You're the best girlfriend in the world, and I really like how we have such great chemistry. You basically complete me. You're like the master sorceress, and I'm a dragon slayer. We go together so well, you know." Sting told her with a kind smile on his face, before kissing her lips again and letting his tongue explore her mouth for a few seconds.

Reināre responded happily, as she turned around and shook her rear in his face and felt him caress it and give it a few kisses, "You're the nicest guy ever, Sting! You saved me from collapsing and being a total wreck over Natsu, and I need to thank you for everything that you've done for me. You need to know how blessed I am to have you."

"Well, the effort actually took both of us to do it. We got strong together, and we'll keep improving. The bond of our love is strong, like your spells. We're the ultimate combination, and maybe the book understands that as well." He said kindly, enchanting her with his beautiful blue eyes.

Sting and Lucy really did have a good amount of romantic chemistry, and they could sense each other's hearts while the blush on their faces was pink like hearts and hot like the fireballs Reināre had created. They certainly had hotness, happiness, and things could only get better in the following days.

* * *

**How was Chapter 23? I apologize for the long wait, my fellow readers, reviewers, and writers! College work is time-consuming, unfortunately. Anyway, Sting and Lucy are definitely getting hot like the hot spring! They make it a spicy StiCy! However, what will happen next time when Reināre and Minerva finally have their fated rematch? Will it be more epic than before? Will the book have a few shocking spells that make fusions of awesomeness? Standby for more in Chapter 24!**


	24. Chapter 24

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. Hiro Mashima does. This story was made for fun, and not for cash. (How unfortunate.)**

* * *

The following day, Sting and Reināre were sitting at a table in the Sabertooth guild while having some plates of waffles covered in maple syrup for their morning breakfast. They had planned to train hard today, but none of the jobs looked promising in terms of rewards or potentially dangerous and exciting. Were criminals not as active, since Reināre was really famous and powerful?

"Sting, how are we going to find a good job today? All of the best jobs seemed to have been taken already, so that's a major letdown for us." Reināre told him with a sad look on her face, as she let out a disappointed sigh before continuing to eat her waffles.

Sting didn't like the fact that things were looking down today, and he had to do something to lift his girlfriend's spirits. After all, without any training, how could he help her become stronger and better with her various types of magic? He knew that he couldn't just rush a good strategy into his mind, and he tried to think of a place in Fiore that would be great for training.

"Don't let it bother you, Reināre. Something will surely make this day exciting, trust me. On today's agenda, I see that we haven't tested out your Lightning Magic for a long while. We should try to find a good area to try out those spells, since they do have lots of power." Sting replied to her in a calm tone, as he held her hands in his hands and confidently smiled at her.

Lucy a.k.a. Reināre had to wonder what could be done in the free time that she and Sting currently had, since they weren't training. They hadn't gone out on a date in a long while, and they did deserve a break after having to deal with Natsu again. She immediately thought of going to the beach, especially since it was now hot and sunny.

Suddenly, much to her shock, the doors of the Sabertooth guild were kicked open and Minerva appeared in the doorway with a stern glare on her face. She threw a young blue-haired girl on to the ground, and she appeared to be Wendy. Was she in Castelia Town for a job, or for something else?

"You have a visitor, Reināre. I don't know why someone from Fairy Tail would come to see you, honestly. Oh, wait. You're both pretty pathetic, so that common thing must be how you bonded." Minerva told the violet-eyed girl in a deriding tone with a smirk on her face, before laughing at her rival.

Reināre softly growled from hearing Minerva's taunts once again, despite the fact that most people praised her for being one of the best mages in Sabertooth. After helping Wendy stand up, and leading her to a nearby chair for her to sit down, Reināre walked towards Minerva and harshly glared at her rival. She had never really gained Minerva's respect, mostly hearing words of disapproval instead.

"Do you always have to be so mean, Minerva? You know, we won the Grand Magic Games because of me! Honestly, I'm getting sick of you criticizing me and never giving me even a little bit of praise! No matter how hard I work, you won't even show me a little bit of respect!" Reināre told Minerva in a stern tone, as she narrowed her violet eyes at her greatest rival.

She would never admit it, mostly because of her pride, but Minerva had thought of Reināre as a skilled mage. During the Grand Magic Games, Reināre's success actually made Minerva feel a tad bit nervous. Seeing her get stronger was quite hard for Minerva to watch, even though she had been getting better as well with her Territory Magic.

Minerva retorted harshly, as she teleported behind Reināre and bent her left arm behind her back, "You act like I have to show you an ounce of respect, but you're still nowhere near my level! I'm sexier, stronger, smarter, faster, more stylish, and more sophisticated than you'll ever be, Reināre! Our last battle may have been a draw, but I'll win!"

The two girls were respectively readying an energy wave and a fireball in their left hands, only to be restrained by Rufus and Sting. Their rivalry was pretty intense, and Rufus clearly remembered how their first fight had turned out. It certainly deserved to be a draw, since it was a great showdown.

Rogue simply sat down at the table where Wendy was at, and his red eyes caught the sight of the red spell book turning yellow with Lucy's feelings of wanting to beat Minerva this time and impress Sting at the same time. He wondered what kinds of new spells were written for Lightning Magic, hoping they would be useful somehow.

"Are they always at each other's throats like that?" Wendy asked Rogue with a curious look on her face, as she saw the drama unfolding in front of her.

The shadow dragon slayer replied with a calm facial expression, "When it comes to being Sabertooth's highest-ranked female, Minerva could never see Reināre as her equal. It's quite sad, since they would make a ferocious combination that probably would've even scared my future self."

To calm things down, Sting suggested that they all go to the beach for some relaxation time. Everyone needed it at some point, even Minerva. Some time at the beach would be good for everyone, and two rivals ironically agreed at the same time that sunbathing was totally good for their skin. Reināre looked happy that Sting had somehow known her thought of going to the beach, and she immediately grabbed the yellow spell book before walking out of the guild with Sting, Minerva, Orga, Rogue, Rufus, and Wendy following behind.

* * *

**Meanwhile, at Fairy Tail…**

The recklessness of Natsu and Erza had caused them to be taken to the infirmary, leaving Lisanna and Gray as the only members of the team who weren't incapacitated. The fact that Reināre did so much damage to them was enough to make Gray have the sense to not challenge her, lest he be burned badly and heavily damaged like his teammates.

He sat at a table and sighed while gathering his thoughts for a few moments. He had never told anyone about his assumptions from the Grand Magic Games, but Gray did wonder where Lucy was. He had thought Reināre might be her, but then he remembered that Lucy used her keys instead of a book. Unknown to his teammates, Gray actually felt some guilt for shunning Lucy like how he had done.

Ur hadn't raised Gray to become a total jerk like Natsu, and he had looked at the situation from Lucy's perspective sometimes. He did hope that she wasn't dead somewhere, or he could never really live with the guilt. Even if Team Natsu didn't cause her death, Gray knew that they would be indirectly responsible for making her leave Fairy Tail in the first place. He had an ashamed look on his face, feeling utterly disappointed in himself for what him and the rest of the team had done up to this point.

Makarov asked with a concerned facial expression, as he walked by the table with Mirajane, "Gray, why are you so down? Is everything all right?"

Gray replied in a disappointed tone while he continued to sigh and look ashamed, as he tried putting pieces together whilst remembering the day he saw Lucy with a pink book, "Master, I want you to tell me everything you know about the book that went missing from here. You see, I need to rid myself of some guilt. A few months ago, I was really cold to someone who was nothing but nice before she disappeared. If she's still alive, I want to make amends. My guilt just overpowers what Erza says about her, honestly."

Makarov responded in a kind tone, before gently patting Gray's head, "Well, I suppose it would be all right to tell you about the book. It was created back in the X600s when the First Master was the guild master of Fairy Tail, and that book was made by a mage named Mallory Otogakure. The history books consistently say how she was an exceptional sorceress for Fairy Tail, having mastered ten types of magic by creating and fusing spells to make ultimate spells."

"You're saying that the book that went missing from here is filled with all of her spells?" Mira asked curiously, wondering if that was the same book Reināre had used in the Grand Magic Games.

"Yes, it's filled with all of the extremely powerful and restricted spells that she created from using the blood of demons that she defeated. She used their blood as ink to write the spells whilst putting many abilities into that book, such as how it reacts to emotions and unlocks spells for its master when necessary. She wrote the spells for each type of magic in eight different languages of olden times, most likely before Zeref's birth. She even gave unorthodox powers to the book, such as altering the spells to coincide with the heart, emotions, and wishes of its master." Makarov continued, remembering what had been said about this woman from many history books.

Gray looked astounded to know that someone would put all those spells and curses into a book, especially by the fact that a spell book could choose its master. On top of that, she created spells from the abilities of the demons she had defeated. He had to admit that Mallory was impressive, since it seemed like she had thrown Molding Magic into her mix, since he had seen Reināre's spells.

"Then, how did she become known as Mal? What happened?" Gray asked out of curiosity, really wanting to know exactly what happened.

"Well, Mavis had seen the vicious and destructive power of her spells. She didn't want such evil in Fairy Tail, so Mallory was excommunicated. It can presumed that she didn't take kindly to that, since the legends speak of the earth roaring and shaking while lightning and darkness came down upon Fiore. The heavens descended in a cataclysm, the winds caused destruction, the seas raged with coldness, and great storms of fire nearly caused the end of the rest of Earthland. Her malicious acts earned her the nickname of Mal, and she was killed by Mavis using Fairy Glitter in their showdown that decided the fate of the world. However, Mal's book survived. The light of Fairy Glitter created shadows, perfect for Mal's spirit to merge into. It's assumed that the black spells were made from that happening, and they are how she lives on. Her book won't work for anyone, however. The spells only work for a potentially proficient sorceress, from what history says." Makarov explained sternly to everyone, remembering Reināre.

Gray could tell that Reināre definitely fit the description of being proficient, but how did she and Lucy have similar spell books? He couldn't figure that out, and he figured that his assumptions might be wrong. He knew there was no way Reināre could be Lucy. They didn't look alike, their voices didn't sound alike, and Reināre did look a few years older than Lucy. On top of that, she was mature and she was in the Sabertooth guild.

* * *

**At the beach near Humilau Town…**

The members of Team Sabertooth, along with Wendy, were relaxing on the sand, playing in the water, eating from the picnic basket, and making a sandcastle. Minerva wore a two-piece purple bikini that showed off some of the cleavage of her large breasts whilst Reināre wore her favorite black bikini that made Sting blush happily and gaze at the beauty of her breasts and the sexy curves of her rear. She blew a kiss to Sting while flirtatiously posing, causing him to catch it and grin at her with satisfaction.

Minerva hugged Rufus from behind, and the feeling of her breasts against his back was certainly something that would be in his memory forever. Wendy was building a sandcastle, as Rogue simply relaxed under the shadow of a tree and watched Orga eat a whole large steak by himself. Reināre laid down on the sand, and she was lying on her stomach while Sting applied some sunscreen to her back.

"You really look cute when you're relaxed, you know that?" Sting told her with a cocky grin on his face, as he let his fingers dance on her back and feel the smoothness of her soft fair skin.

Reināre replied happily with a seductive smirk while blushing, as she turned over to be on her back while grabbing Sting's hand to make him be on top of her, "Sting, you always ask the sweetest questions. You have really good abdominals, I love your nice muscles, and I feel enchanted by your beautiful blue eyes."

Sting smiled at the fact that Reināre always flattered him when necessary and he chuckled a little when she let her hands stroke his arms to feel how muscular he was. Sting gave her a soft kiss on the forehead, and then he began to lick her neck slowly with his tongue. Reināre shivered slightly from Sting's sudden move on her, but then she began to blush and sigh happily.

She loved how Sting was always so gentle with her, and she simply gave a few kisses to his chest while he was licking her neck. Reināre was about to ask Sting to stop, but then he was suddenly teleported away from her and sent to the top of a nearby palm tree. Seeing Minerva with a teasing smirk on her face, Reināre ran over to her and she was certainly not happy.

"What is your problem, Minerva? You called Sting a filthy pervert at the hot spring, and now you won't let him pleasure me?" Reināre asked sternly, narrowing her violet eyes and clenching her fists whilst being a tad embarrassed when she used the word 'pleasure' in that sentence.

Minerva replied with a disapproving facial expression, "Oh, wow. You're telling me that he still hasn't pleasured you yet? He still hasn't marked you? I'm guessing he wants to move forward in your relationship. You must be so scared, Reināre-tan. You're afraid of him wanting to give you his overwhelming love. Poor Sting. It just goes to show that the superior woman, instead of the shy virgin can only seduce him. I don't even think you even know how to let him inside your front door, if you know what I mean."

Reināre couldn't even respond, as her face was now cherry red from hearing Minerva's detailed explanation on what Sting needed. She had never been seductive, like how her clones were acting with Sting when they had been training a few months ago. It was true that she didn't know how to seduce Sting, and make him be drooling over her, but that didn't mean she'd let Minerva get away with technically calling her scared and inferior to her.

She remembered how their last fight ended in a draw, both girls wanting to settle this rivalry for good ever since that time. Unknown to anyone, they had been holding back so that they wouldn't damage the city. This time, there was more at stake here. Minerva had told her that she could seduce Sting, and Reināre refused to let that happen. Sting was her boyfriend, and she certainly wouldn't let her rival put a single finger on any part of his body.

"I'll never let you touch my boyfriend, Minerva! Let's settle this rivalry right now! I'm going to hold true to what I said before the Grand Magic Games! Now that the other teams aren't around, we can finally have our rematch! You're going down!" Reināre told her with fierceness in her violet eyes, as she grabbed her yellow spell book.

* * *

Both girls stood across from each other on opposite ends of the beach, looking eager to for a winner to emerge from their rivalry. They glared at each other with the intention of taking this seriously, since their last battle had ended in a draw.

Reināre immediately smirked, and she used a new spell known as Lightning Needles. This spell caused her to unleash a beam of golden lightning from her left hand, and it transformed into a copious amount of needles that headed straight for Minerva. It seemed like easy victory, but Minerva simply teleported out of the way.

The lightning needles, despite their small size, made large yellow blasts of lightning occur when they hit the ground. Minerva scoffed at this, since she had now teleported behind Reināre, and she kicked her rival in the back with extreme force. Reināre was propelled into the air, and Minerva teleported in front of her to deliver some strong punches and kicks to her rival's body. Upon seeing her cough up blood, Minerva slammed her fists down on her rival's stomach and sent her crashing into the ground.

She told Reināre with an evil smirk on her face, as the smoke began to subside, "You were foolish to challenge me, you know. Your style of attacking is much too direct, and you'll never beat me."

The violet-eyed girl slowly stood up, and she wiped some blood off of her left cheek. Minerva had slammed her into the ground with tremendous force, and it really had hurt Reināre. However, she wasn't going to let any pain stop her from winning.

"I can attack you directly and internally from a distance, Minerva! If you're confused by what I'm saying, I'll give you a devastating demonstration!" Reināre replied fiercely, determined to take any attack that Minerva sent her way.

Minerva threw ten energy waves at the violet-eyed girl, but she was shocked to see Reināre use the index and middle fingers of her hands to strike the energy waves and charge them with lightning. The energy waves turned into golden shields that were shaped like lightning bolts, and they floated around Reināre. Suddenly, Minerva felt pains from inside of her and it felt like electricity was exploding internally to make her cough up some blood.

The first new spell she used was known as Shock Switch, which made Reināre able to touch an attack with lightning and make it into an offensive or defensive electric weapon of her own. The next new spell was known as Shock Current, and it worked in conjunction with the previous spell. After touching something like a projectile, this spell allowed the user to send lightning into their opponent's bodies through electric currents made by the distance from the user to its target.

This attack targeted something known as the Magical Power Pathway System, and it was made up of channels of circulatory canals that transfer and channel magical power. Simply put, they serve the same function for magical power as blood vessels do for blood. Along the magical power pathways, there are 361 nodes called tenketsu that control the flow of magical power like circuit breakers, and they were the size of the head of a pin.

Hitting one directly affected the flow of an opponent's magical power, halting it or increasing it by how the electricity strikes. The Magical Power Pathway System was so closely interwoven with the target's internal organs, causing them to suffer as well when the tenketsu were struck. Internal organs couldn't be strengthened, regardless of how hard a mage trained, thus even making someone powerful like Jura vulnerable to this type of attack. Shock Current's effect grew gradually, making it dangerous for opponents.

"You wretched little girl! How dare you try sneaky tricks like that! Now you're asking for me to punish you!" Minerva exclaimed furiously, as she threw an extremely large energy wave at Reināre and had a trick of her own.

Reināre prepared to hit the large energy wave and neutralize it, but Minerva's attack immediately split into numerous energy waves that struck her from eight different directions. Reināre felt tremendous pain from her rival's unexpected attack, and the energy waves were hot enough to leave burns and bruises on her body. She screamed from the pain and fell to her knees, much to Minerva's amusement.

Breathing heavily, as she struggled to stand up, Reināre looked over at Sting to see him looking concerned for her and he looked like he was ready to intervene. She didn't want him to be worried and think that she couldn't handle a matter that she personally needed to settle, and Reināre didn't want to look bad in front of the guy that she admired the most. She would definitely show her boyfriend that she loved him immensely, and Sting was definitely great teaching her many of the things she never knew before. Her powerful love for Sting and overwhelming urge to beat Minerva caused the book to emit a yellow glow.

She used another new spell known as Electric Energizer to make a yellow beam of lightning come down from the sky, and it struck Reināre. Instead of hurting her, the lightning healed all of her wounds and restored her energy like she had never taken any damage. The lightning had increased her speed, too.

"This is it, Minerva! You are definitely going down, and I intend to make that be certain! Let's see how you handle this attack! Lightning Demon's Fused Jolt!" She shouted with strong emotions, as the look of strength in her violet eyes could tell anyone that she didn't plan to lose.

Yellow lightning surrounded the three golden shields, and they began to shatter into pieces. However, all those pieces began to float with electricity surrounding them while they circled around Minerva. Before she could react, they all simultaneously slammed into her and created an extremely enormous golden blast of Lightning Magic.

* * *

Everyone covered their eyes, except for Sting and Orga because they looked impressed at what they were seeing. The blast centered all of its energy around Minerva, to not damage the entire beach. After all, nobody wanted to pay for damages.

When the smoke quickly faded away, Minerva was now bruised, battered, burnt, and covered in blood after taking the full brunt of that attack. She was panting heavily like Reināre, who was running low on stamina. Electric Energizer's side effect was that it caused fatigue, after giving so much magical power to the user. Minerva and Reināre could only breathe in sync and smile confidently at each other, like respect had been earned and admitted on both sides, before they both collapsed to the ground and blacked out.

"Oh, no! They've fainted! Stand back, everyone! I'll heal them!" Wendy told the males from Team Sabertooth, before running to Reināre and Minerva to restore their energy and heal their wounds.

Sting could only smile at Reināre, as he ran to her aid while Rufus ran over to Minerva's side. The white dragon slayer could tell that his girlfriend fought as hard as her lightning spells could allow her to, and he was definitely proud of her and Minerva. The girls had so much of a big rivalry, but the fact that they both disliked Erza made him wonder how they could act as friends instead of enemies.

**How was Chapter 24? Reināre and Minerva are definitely a fierce pair, and their flames of determination burn as hot as the StiCy pairing! What will happen when Sting and Lucy go on a date, after so long? Will they discover more secrets about the book? Will their romance continue to grow? What shall happen when Lucy has to make a clone of herself again? Standby for the love and action in Chapter 25!**


	25. Chapter 25

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. Hiro Mashima does. This story was made for fun, and not for cash. (How unfortunate.)**

* * *

The next morning, Lucy woke up to find herself back in her bedroom at her apartment in Kurai Town. She remembered having her second showdown with Minerva, and she also had the recollection of their rematch ending in a draw like last time. Well, both of them had only been using one type of magic. If Lucy showed off more of her spells, she might've won. However, the smile on her face could tell anyone that she was happy to see her rival smile at her with respect before she blacked out along with her.

Lucy had fought so hard for Sting, and he really was impressed at how far his girlfriend had come along in her training. She giggled happily, knowing him and Lector probably told everyone in Sabertooth that Reināre and Minerva were now the top girls in Sabertooth and nobody could measure up to them. Sting was obviously the one who brought Lucy back to her apartment, and she saw her black bikini lying on the black carpet of her bedroom.

She was still disguised as Reināre, and her senses of being alert kicked in when she heard the noises of her toaster, food sizzling, and pancakes being flipped. Who could possibly be in the kitchen? It couldn't be a hungry robber with cooking skills, unless they didn't have pots and pans at their hideout to make food. Lucy didn't want to assume the worst, but what if someone from Fairy Tail had been spying on Wendy when she came to visit yesterday? If they knew where she lived, things wouldn't be good.

Upon seeing the yellow spell book on the white pillow next to her, Lucy grabbed it and got out of bed. She thought up a plan in her head to surprise the robber whilst preventing them from taking anything that belonged to her. She tiptoed out of the bedroom, and slowly opened the book to the section with Lightning Magic. Would this sneak attack work, though?

Reināre shouted fiercely with a stern facial expression, as she ran into the living room area, "All right, you sneaky burglar! Let's see how you like it when some lightning roasts you, and turns your breakfast into burnt food!"

"Good morning, Lucy! I hope you don't mind that I made some breakfast for us. It's not really stealing, since I cooked all this food out of love for you." Sting replied with a smirk on his face, as he walked out of the kitchen with two plates of toast, strawberry pancakes, bacon, and eggs.

The pink blush on her face showed Sting that Reināre was definitely embarrassed for assuming he was a burglar, and she was even more embarrassed that she wasn't wearing any clothes. She twiddled her thumbs and continued to blush, before sitting down at the table with her hands on her legs. Sting had seen her naked a few times, and he was blushing as well. His hands didn't even feel the sizzling hot bacon, since Sting was distracted by Reināre's bare beauty.

"Um… I should go put some clothes on, Sting! I mean, it's probably cold outside! I should dress warm!" Reināre told him, as she still looked somewhat flustered while the pink blush on her face turned to a cross between hot pink and scarlet red.

He replied with a kind look on his face, as he gently took her left hand in his and pulled her close to him so her head would rest against his chest, "Don't leave me yet. Listen, I just wanted to congratulate you for improving on your lightning spells yesterday. That last one should only be used as a last resort, since it made you faint after consuming so much of your magical power. Anyway, that's why I'm giving you the day off from training for me to reward you with a date."

Reināre's embarrassed look turned into a small smile, upon hearing Sting's words. He wanted to go out on a date with her, after so long. Her violet eyes twinkled while she imagined herself and Sting drinking a cup of Coca-Cola with two straws. She still remembered the accidental first kiss back at the café in Magnolia, but she had to admit that she liked it. Sting was a pretty good kisser, and he was smart when it came to choosing places for different activities.

"Of course I'd love to go on another date with you, Sting! You're my boyfriend, after all. I bet you picked a great place for our date, too." She responded with a smile on her face, as she looked up at the white dragon slayer and kissed his lips softly.

He told her that they would be going to Hakutai Town; a town that had been created by wielders of Plant Magic who moved to Fiore from Tokiwa Town after hearing about Reināre's success. (This happened between Chapters 7 & 8, just so you know.) Knowing that people from Tokiwa had a specialty for making sweet-smelling perfumes, how could Reināre not love Sting's smart selection?

She quickly ran back to her bedroom to put on a lacy black bra with lacy white panties to match, before putting on a red T-shirt that left her stomach exposed, an orange miniskirt, and some yellow sandals to compliment the rest of her outfit. As she ran back to the kitchen table, Sting dropped his jaw while blushing and the slice of toast near fell out of his mouth. He hadn't evaluated his girlfriend from the front and the back in a while, but Sting could feel her hot sexiness radiating towards him. He continued to eat his breakfast while she sat down to eat as well, knowing this would be a good day.

* * *

**Meanwhile, at the Fairy Tail guild…**

The members of Team Natsu had just returned from a job in Sabaku Town, a desert town where mages specialized in Sand Magic and Earth Magic while paying no mind to the heat from the sun. Natsu had been foolish enough to destroy the Relic Castle, where the supposed treasure was buried, so the treasure-hunting client refused to give a reward to the team.

"We did all that for nothing. Next time, Natsu, don't be so reckless!" Erza exclaimed with a scolding facial expression, as she strangled him and put him into an intense headlock.

Lisanna tried to intervene and calm things down, but Gray was staring off into space while looking disappointed once again. He wasn't upset about what happened on the job, but the same issue troubled him repeatedly with guilt for quite some time now. No matter where Team Natsu went, Gray couldn't find a single trace of Lucy.

How could he apologize to her, if he couldn't find her? There had been no news to the guild about Lucy for months now, and the ice mage kept trying to drive his thoughts away from assuming the worst case scenario of his former teammate's fate. Gray could only remember how Lucy cried when everyone shunned her, and he only wished that he had seen her on that last time she came to Fairy Tail to get her guild mark effaced.

No wonder she wouldn't return to the guild, since the members of Team Natsu had been so coarse and harsh when they brutally kicked her off the team. Natsu and Lisanna obviously were too busy with each other to show any remorse, and Erza had secretly given up hope on ever seeing Lucy again. As he leaned against one of the entrance doors, Gray's guilt told him an important thing. He needed to move on and help his friends come to realize what they had done whilst also finding a sense of closure to this tense conflict.

"Hey, Juvia!" Gray shouted to the Rain Woman, who was at the request board and about to go out on a job.

Juvia turned around replied with a smile on her face, as she ran towards the ice mage, "Yes, Gray? What do you need from Juvia? How may she be of assistance to you?"

"I want you to help me find Lucy Heartfilia, Juvia. She's been gone so long, and my guilt won't go away! I helped my team shun her out of here, I feel like a jerk like that flaming idiot Natsu, and I just want to find her and tell her I'm sorry for what happened! I know you two don't get along, but you can probably find Lucy faster than Natsu or Gajeel could!" Gray explained frantically, as his guilt began to slightly agitate him.

Juvia seemed annoyed at the fact that Gray wanted to find her love rival, but she had also known that Lucy had been gone for a long time now. Juvia thought this would've given her a chance with Gray, but she had also been hoping Lucy was alive and safe somewhere. She was still a decent human being, after all.

Determined to apologize, since that's what Ur would want Gray to do in a situation like this, he quickly ran out of the guild with Juvia. However, where would they even begin to look? Lucy obviously wasn't in Magnolia, and it was highly unlikely that she'd be in Castelia with the Sabertooth guild. Deciding to search in the towns across the sea and past Castelia, Gray made a bridge out of ice blocks and he quickly ran across it while looking fierce and holding Juvia's hand.

"_Gray-sama is so determined! Juvia has never seen him like this, so Juvia must help as well to make him happy!" _She thought with a smile on her face, as she blushed at the sight of the ice mage holding her hand.

* * *

**In Hakutai Town…**

Sting and Reināre were sitting on a bench in the park near the town's grassy meadow, smelling the mint perfume traveling through the air from the perfume shops where it was being engendered with magic, berries, and flowers.

They were eating some slices of cheese pizza that they had purchased from a concession stand in the town, and Reināre had set the yellow book down in the flowerbed of roses in front of her and Sting. The bluish-purple emperor butterflies rested on some of the roses, adding to the town's natural garden setting.

"It's so peaceful here, Sting. I'm glad that you chose this place for our date. The flowers are pretty, the perfume smells good, and this pizza is delicious!" Reināre told her boyfriend with a light pink blush on her face, as she swallowed the last bit of her first slice of pizza and picked up another one.

The white dragon slayer replied calmly with a grin on his face, as he folded up his slice of cheese pizza and put it in his mouth, "When it comes to making you happy, I certainly know how to do that. After all, I'm in love with you. You're my girlfriend, and I refuse to let you be saddened by anything in your past."

He had never told Lucy this for her to possibly be angry and vengeful like when she used the black spells, but Sting really was mad at Natsu for being so awful and speaking so ill of his ex-girlfriend like she was trash. Just how low could someone go, when it came to the topic of their ex-partners? Saying all that stuff about how the matter of him cheating on Lucy had nothing to do with Sting and Reināre was cruel, when it technically did involve them. Of course, Natsu didn't know the truth yet. He was dense when it came to relationships, not to mention hotheaded and hypocritical as well sometimes.

However, on the bright side, someone who he believed to be weak and inferior to his team technically defeated Natsu. Sting looked into his girlfriend's twinkling violet eyes for a moment, and he gave her a soft kiss on the lips. It almost felt like the first time that they kissed, even if it was by accident. He tasted the cheese pizza on her lips, and Sting's tongue wiped it off slowly to give Reināre that feeling of satisfaction.

She returned the kiss while letting her tongue slowly brush against his. A feeling of warmth overcame her, causing the blush on her face to be hot pink while her hands gently stroked his rock-hard abdominals. Reināre didn't care if she couldn't seduce Sting right now, since their love made them have enough chemistry to communicate simply through eye contact sometimes.

She broke the kiss for a moment when she felt one of Sting's soft hands stroke her rear with such smoothness, and it made Reināre sigh happily in pleasure. He was feeling her lacy white panties, letting his fingers dance a little bit across her underwear while heating up the moment.

"You're really delicate with me, Sting. That's one of the things that make me love you. After this, I hope we'll love each other even more." She told him with a seductive smirk on her face, before rolling off of the bench and into the flowers with him.

They both chuckled happily, now that Reināre was on top of Sting, and the wonderful smell of the roses kept making things better. Interestingly enough, all this botanical beauty and bliss caused the spell book to turn emerald green and then turn pale green. It alternated between the two shades of green, as it glowed brightly, prompting Reināre to pick up the spell book and see what was going on.

Her violet eyes widened in amazement, upon seeing that the spells in green text were now emerald green for Wind Magic and pale green for Plant Magic. Did the magically created flowers play some sort of role for this to occur? Some spells for Plant Magic were written, ten to be more exact. However, such an amazing thing always came with a catch. These spells could only be used in areas with plants around, and they could only fuse with Wind Magic.

"Well, that's new. I guess the book reacts to different elements, too. Now that gives you nine types of magic, and that's like the level of a Wizard Saint!" Sting exclaimed happily, upon seeing the text in two different shades of green. He still couldn't read a single word in the book, and it seemed like Plant Magic was written in another old language of the book as well.

* * *

Reināre was about to kiss Sting for this new feat happening, but then her eyes widened in shock at the sight of Gray and Juvia walking down a nearby street in Hakutai Town. They looked like they were searching for something, and Lucy could tell from Juvia's faintly displeased expression that the Fairy Tail mages were looking for her.

"_If this is part of Natsu's plot to bring me back for more ridicule and embarrassment, I'm not falling for it! I've changed, ever since the day I met Sting, and I absolutely refuse to let these guys try to keep us apart! Let's see what they think of this!" _Lucy thought to herself, as she hid behind the bench with Sting and looked determined to not be separated from him.

She used the Clone Magic to make a clone of herself as Lucy Heartfilia, and the clone wore a pale green T-shirt with an emerald green skirt and dark green high heels while holding a green spell book. She disappeared into a green tornado of wind and reappeared behind Gray and Juvia to get their attention, and distract their vision from Sting and Reināre.

Upon feeling the sudden wind, Gray turned around he was utterly shocked to see the girl he had been searching for. The tornado died down, and Lucy emerged from the winds with her blonde hair obscuring her brown eyes. Juvia was amazed to see this happening, since Lucy could never use Wind Magic before.

Gray told her in a calm tone, as he gasped and then chuckled happily from seeing her after all this time, "Lucy, you're alive… You're really here! I can't believe it's you! I've finally found you! Everyone's been really worried, too!"

"Don't make up lies to fool me, Gray. The Lucy that you knew back then… is gone. I've become someone who looks toward my future, and I'm done with my past. Any ties I had to you and that guild are severed, and our so-called bond was broken when you helped Natsu and the others kick me off the team." Lucy told him in a cold tone while her brown eyes were filled with fierceness.

Gray figured that she would've forgotten about that, but it would be normal for anyone to be upset for being called weak and shunned by people who she thought were her friends. Now she broke her ties with them, thus saying that the conflict reached the point of no return.

"I understand that you're angry with us, Lucy. I've been feeling guilty about what I did, and I want to make things right. I'm sorry that I helped the others oust you from Team Natsu, and you have every right to be furious with us. We were total jerks, and I realized that from seeing this whole thing from your perspective." The ice mage replied with an apologetic look on his face, feeling completely ashamed of what he had done.

Lucy simply walked away from him, as if Gray's apologetic words had fallen on deaf ears. He ran after her, refusing to let her just walk away from his pleas for forgiveness and understanding of him trying to make amends with her.

Gray exclaimed with a serious facial expression, as he grabbed her hand and locked eyes with her, "I don't expect you to forgive me so easily, and you can hate me forever, but I'm not going to let you wander through Fiore alone!"

She slapped his hand away fiercely, not wanting to be around him any longer. Lucy was determined to let go of her icy past, since her future of light was much better and Sting probably wouldn't kick her off of a team. Besides, how could she know if Gray's guilt was real? Erza could've easily put him up to it, knowing how strict and scary she could be.

"Well, then. If you're going to try and bring me back by force, then we'll see about that! Time for the first spell of Plant Magic, also known as Leaf Cutter!" Lucy shouted with a determined facial expression, as the green book glowed brightly.

Reināre and Sting watched the clone unleash several leaves from the palms of her hands, and they were sharp-edged. However, much to their surprise, Gray took the attack and received several cuts on his chest. He winced in pain, but it was like he was trying to show her that he truly was sorry for what happened by not retaliating like Natsu would.

Lucy used the second spell known as Pulverizing Petals, which caused petals from nearby flowers to quickly hone in on Gray and create small pale green blasts of energy when they softly landed on him or on the ground. The ice mage kept on taking damage, but he still wouldn't attack. Was Gray actually feeling guilty for what had happened?

Not wanting this fight to end too quickly, Lucy activated the third spell known as Garden Growth. This new spell caused some roses to emerge from underground, and they released a wonderful smell into the faces of Lucy and Gray. Upon smelling the heavenly aroma, both mages felt revitalized and their strange chemicals went into Gray's body and healed his body to make him undamaged like how he was before the fight started.

"Since you healed me, I guess you want me to seriously fight you. Well, I won't hold back from this point on." Gray told her with a stern look, as ice began to surround his hands.

He used Ice-Make: Spiky Sphere to unleash spike-covered spheres of ice from his hands, only to have Lucy counter with the fourth spell of Plant Magic known as Vine Swords. Two green vines emerged from the centers of her palms, and they had sharp ends like swords normally did. Gray was astounded to see Lucy simply slash at his projectiles, and slash them into dust.

By this point, Juvia felt like she had to intervene. She wasn't going to let Gray possibly die and she certainly wanted Lucy to know she had two opponents to deal with. Juvia unleashed a Water Cyclone from her hands, only to have the most unexpected spell cancel it out.

Lucy shouted with a determined look on her face, as she looked at the fifth spell, "I don't know why someone would use this, but here we go! Time for the fifth spell known as Fruit Frenzy!"

Clearly, the spells of Plant Magic used anything in nature since they made apples fall off the nearby fruit trees and float towards Lucy. She slashed them into apple slices with her vine swords, and they were all surrounded by a pale green aura. They honed in on the Water Cyclone, creating pale green blasts of energy while completely negating Juvia's attack.

"What in the world?! Juvia's Water Cyclone was eliminated by slices of fruit?! That is hardly fair, and the writer of that book has made enemies with Juvia now!" She exclaimed, looking completely stunned by what had just happened.

Sting thought to himself while looking at the real emerald green book Reināre had, as he also looked shocked at what just happened, _"This book really is crazy, I swear. What kind of curse did the writer put on it, in order to make projectiles out of fruit?"_

Ignoring the shocked reactions of her enemies, Lucy had a confident smirk on her face when the pale green spell book began to glow again. This next spell seemed like it was going to be a major one, based on the excited grin that Reināre had whilst also looking at the sixth spell of Plant Magic.

"It's time for me to kick things up a notch, Gray! Let's see if you can withstand one of my new fusion attacks! Wind Demon's Hurricane and Plant Demon's Blooming Flower combine to form Naturalistic Demon's Lotus Storm!" Lucy yelled with confidence in her voice, as her brown eyes were unclouded by any doubts that she had about using a new spell like this.

This spell caused a breeze to blow past the trio, and eight green leaves surrounded the spot where Gray and Juvia were standing. While they thought this was a stupid trick, the green leaves suddenly exploded into eight large pale green blasts of energy! However, that was only the first part of the spell. A small green cyclone of wind appeared in between the two Fairy Tail mages, and it unleashed an emerald green blast that was twice the size of the pale green blasts.

From an aerial view, all of the pale green blasts were like the petals of a lotus while the emerald green blast looked like the pistil (center) of the lotus. Gray and Juvia obviously took immense damage from that attack since the number of trees and flowers in the area, where the spell had been used, also multiplied the power of the spell. An interesting ability for Plant Magic, was it not?

* * *

When the smoke cleared, Gray and Juvia were both unconscious in a flower-shaped crater while bleeding and being badly wounded. They were burnt in several places, and their clothes were torn. The clone of Lucy Heartfilia looked at Gray, and realized that he didn't counterattack that final spell as an act of showing remorse for what he had done. He had truly seen Lucy as a friend, or was that just the guilt overwhelming him? Seeing no reason to stick around, the clone of Lucy and her book vanished into a puff of white smoke.

Reināre and Sting came out from behind the bench to look at the damaged street, and they could tell that those attacks must've really done some damage. The violet-eyed girl looked a little bit scared, instead of feeling sorry for Gray. Team Natsu would definitely be after her now, and Fairy Tail would probably be surprised beyond belief to know that Lucy Heartfilia was still alive.

Sting told her with a smile on his face to give her some assurance, as he saw her body tremble while their chemistry allowed him to somewhat know her thoughts, "There's nothing to worry about, trust me. Nobody will hurt you, as long as I'm here to protect you."

Reināre blushed while looking into Sting's charming blue eyes, and she could only smile when he held her left hand gently and kissed it. Sting always knew the solution to calming his girlfriend down and erasing her fears, which is what made their love great. She had given him many motives to fight alongside her, and they both had come a long way in their relationship.

"You make me feel safe, Sting. Listen, about what Minerva said yesterday… I know I'm not the best when it comes to being seductive, but I hope you know how much I love you. Someday, if you ever want to escalate things with me, I'll show you all my love for you!" Reināre responded while blushing, as she quickly turned away from Sting to hide how embarrassed she felt after saying that.

"You show me all your love for me every day, my beautiful Lucy. You shield me, you stick up for me, you try to impress me, you make me laugh and cheer for you, you're sweet, smart, sexy, definitely seductive since you make me have fantasies about you, and you're the woman I'm in love with." Sting told her with an amorous facial expression, before turning her around to meet his gaze so he could kiss her lips.

She asked him while giggling a little bit and smiling, "You have fantasies about me, Sting? Would you mind sharing those fantasies with me over a hot bath later today?"

Sting could only nod his head in agreement, as he began to blush and think of his girlfriend as being precious like treasure. She was certainly a beauty with the lovely booty that he enjoyed, and a hot bath was sure to heat up a date that had gone from calm and loving to tense and cold. Sting followed Reināre out of Hakutai Town, and they headed back to her apartment in Kurai Town for some steamy relaxation.

* * *

**How was Chapter 25? Things are certainly heating up with this StiCy pairing, which is good! Lucy now has nine types of magic, but that's not all! What other secrets are in the spell book? Will Minerva and Reināre try to create a friendship when a mutual enemy interferes with a job they must do together? Is the StiCy getting hotter? Standby for coolness and hotness in Chapter 26!**


	26. Chapter 26

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. Hiro Mashima does. This story was made for fun, and not for cash. (How unfortunate.)**

* * *

Sting and Lucy stood in front of the request board at the Sabertooth guild, looking for a decent job to take for the day. Nothing even seemed to be mildly appealing on the flyers obscuring the others that were behind them, and Sting let out a groan of frustration. Most of the requests were mediocre tasks, such as saving a cat from a tree and watering flowers in gardens. On top of that, even jobs that required mages to be escorts for royal people in Fiore were only offering 1,000 jewels at the most. Some rich people were certainly cheap, were they not?

A few days had passed since Lucy had made a clone of herself attack Gray and Juvia to prevent them from taking her back to Fairy Tail, and she had reverted back to her original form in that three-day timespan. Of course, as a mage of Sabertooth, she was currently in disguise as Reināre. Her cerulean blue T-shirt left her stomach exposed, as she wore a lacy dark blue bra underneath, and she also wore a mint blue miniskirt that obscured her lacy sapphire blue panties. However, the wind could certainly find a way around that. Reināre put her left hand on Sting's right shoulder, knowing they would find a decent job even if they had to go all the way across Fiore to check another guild.

"There's no need to worry, Sting. We'll surely find a job for today, I know it! Even if it's not the most adequate or thrilling to do, at least we'll be doing it together." She told him with a smile on her face, trying to liberate him from his frustration whilst going behind him to push her soft breasts up against his back, as she wrapped her arms around his waist to give him feelings of love and confidence.

The white dragon slayer replied, as he turned around to face her while blushing and grinning joyously from how Reināre knew what made him feel better when he was in this predicament, "Your sultry style of soothing me always tends to work, you know. Besides, there has to be something good on this request board. Although, I doubt that it will just fall down to us."

Interestingly enough, Sting had tempted fate. One of the flyers for a mediocre job had fallen off its pin to reveal another flyer that was hidden behind it. Sting unpinned the job from the request board, and he had hoped that it would be something worthwhile. Much to his and Reināre's shock, the client was from Humilau Town and they needed two female mages to help out Jenny Realight with filling the other pages of the Top 10 sexy sorceresses with women from different parts of Fiore. Sting could only blush while imagining Reināre and her clones posing seductively in bikinis of different colors. However, this job needed two girls. Who would be the other one?

* * *

Minerva shouted with a stern look on her face, as she appeared behind Sting and Reināre, "It doesn't take all day to decide on a job, you two! Just pick one, and let me have a look at the request board! With my skills, I can do more jobs in a day than Reināre could ever do in a week! Stand aside!"

She teleported in between the happy couple to look at the request board, but then Minerva noticed something interesting on the corner of her left green eye. She could read the flyer that Sting had in his hand, and an idea formed in her mind. If she could come to a draw with Reināre in a battle of power, could she possibly surpass her in a battle of sexiness? Seeing this as a chance to finally get some recognition from, and also take the spotlight off of her rival, Minerva had a scheming smirk on her face while she looked at Sting.

"Oh, how interesting. There must be a photo shoot for the newest issue of Sorcerer Magazine I assume. Well, I think we would all find it to be delightful and entertaining if I joined Reināre for this little job. The queen always has more beauty than the princess, after all. Won't you let me join in on the fun, Sting?" Minerva asked him with a seductive look in her green eyes, as she gently pushed Reināre away from her.

The violet-eyed girl responded for her boyfriend in a stern tone whilst grabbing Minerva's hand for her to turn around and be face to face with her, "Don't try to use your charms on him, Minerva! I am just as beautiful as you, and I'll prove it! This may not be a battle where we have to fight, but I'm good at being sexy! I'll show you and Sting how seductive I can be!"

Reināre's defensive words against her rival and the protective attitude over her boyfriend certainly got the attention of Rogue, Rufus, and Orga. They had been eating breakfast and the thought of seeing Reināre and Minerva pose in sexy swimsuits definitely got Rufus interested. He wanted to remember this fine day, just as much as Orga did. Rogue decided to just go along, knowing how flustered Sting could get. He didn't want his friend to get humiliated in a famous magazine, and he was also intrigued by the emerald green spell book that Reināre held tightly in her right hand.

Wanting to get this over with, so that she wouldn't have to be around Reināre any longer, Minerva teleported everyone to the beach near Humilau Town. This photo shoot was either going to go really well, or it would end badly with Sabertooth getting humiliated throughout Fiore. Still, while Reināre and Minerva represented Sabertooth, who would be in this photo shoot for Fairy Tail? One thing was for sure, though. Jason from Sorcerer Magazine would definitely say that something like this was totally cool.

* * *

**Meanwhile, at the Fairy Tail guild...**

Juvia tried her best to comfort Gray, who was still upset over the fact that he couldn't bring Lucy back to Fairy Tail. He assumed that she was probably roaming throughout Fiore right now, or possibly in a faraway land to forget her past and start anew. He secretly wished that he hadn't been holding back on the rare day that he found her by pure luck, but he also looked at it from a different angle and knew that Lucy wouldn't possibly return by force. What good would it do for her to be in Fairy Tail, if she wasn't happy?

Mira told him with a smile on her face, as she brought two cups of sugary tea over to the table where Gray and Juvia were sitting, "Listen, Gray. I know you couldn't succeed in getting Lucy to return, but you only failed once. She could still be out there somewhere, so don't give up hope. You said how her skill was definitely different from before, so don't fret. Maybe someone like Laxus or Jura will find her and bring her back here for you."

Gray had a slight smile on his face from hearing Mirajane's kind words of assurance and positive thinking, but on the inside he knew that returning to Fairy Tail was the last thing that Lucy would do. The cold look in her brown eyes told Gray that she was through with him and the other members of Team Natsu, and her days of caring for them were done. She was probably with a new guild, anyway, based on how she had looked perfectly fine and not malnourished or hurt at all. However, something troubled Gray. Lucy had a pale green spell book, in contrast to the pink one she had when she fought Erza to defend Sting. Were there different kinds of books, or did this all have some deeper meaning?

"Excuse me, Master! If you don't mind, please tell us some more information about Mal and her spell book. You should tell us what color it was and the kinds of spells she used, please." Gray asked Makarov, who walked by and began to have a stern facial expression when the ice mage mentioned Mal.

He replied calmly, as he let out a sigh and hoped that Gray wasn't thinking of finding the book to obtain ultimate power, "Unfortunately, the history books don't give a specific color to Mal's book. It varies, and the spells have also varied. However, they all say how she was able to use many types of magic. I don't know the regular spells, but the ones that were used by Reināre in the Grand Magic Games are known as fusion spells. They're more powerful than Unison Raids, and fusion spells are much more advanced whilst being more destructive. Keep in mind that all the spells in that book are forbidden techniques, even including assists and enhancements."

Juvia wondered out of curiosity, "Master, but why would assisting spells and enhancements be forbidden? Wizards can still use shielding, upgrading, and immobilization spells like we normally do, can't we?"

"That's probably because the spells of today don't come with all those added effects, as Mal's did. The books emphasize of her non-damaging spells always having a twist to them, most likely because of the descriptions of her spells. Even after being kicked from Fairy Tail, someone as malicious as Mal didn't join a dark guild. Instead, she kept improving her skills to become number one of the Ten Wizard Saints when she was alive. Of course, in this time, the book must've somehow combined old and modern spells of magic to work with its new master. The spells don't seem as cataclysmic as they were said to be all those years ago, thank goodness." Makarov continued, still maintaining his stern facial expression whilst wondering if Mal really did have her essence merged into the book before Mavis killed her.

Mirajane asked happily, trying to break the tension and sudden chill in the air, "Who's going to get the new issue of Sorcerer Magazine? I can't wait to see how Erza, Cana, and Lisanna look while posing in swimsuits!"

* * *

**At the beach near Humilau Town...**

Reināre and Minerva had arrived at he beach with their friends to see Jason looking ecstatic to take pictures of Jenny Realight from Blue Pegasus, Katsumi Atsuko from Lavender Moon, Erza, Cana, and Lisanna from Fairy Tail, Sherry and Chelia from Lamia Scale, and Kagura from Mermaid Heel. Apparently, the flyer had been copied for other guilds to see it and select females to have their chance at being in a magazine. Lucy a.k.a. Reināre was a little surprised to see that Cana was here instead of Mirajane, but since each participating guild got a good amount of jewels from this she could only guess that Mira made Cana do this to replenish the guild's alcohol supply that she could drain rather quickly.

Rufus and Orga both blushed a deep shade of red and had slight nosebleeds at the sight of Minerva taking off her blue dress, as it fell to the floor to reveal her lacy dark green bra and lacy dark green panties. Her lingerie showed off some of her nice cleavage, along with her nice, tan, and curvy rear. Minerva always put tanning oil on every part of her body, despite the fact that she had a nice tan already, and the sunlight really showed off her sexy figure. She teasingly smirked and scoffed at Reināre's fair white skin, and thinking her rival was far from sexy and couldn't pose seductively for a job like this.

Looking determined to not get shown up by Minerva, even if it was a different type of battle, Reināre immediately removed her cerulean blue T-shirt and her mint blue miniskirt to show off her dark blue bra and sapphire blue panties. While the curves of her cleavage and her rear were almost at Minerva's level, the fact that she went over to Sting and put a finger to his lips while exhaling her hot breath on to his cheek was enough to make her boyfriend blush a light shade of pink and gently rub her stomach to feel the romantic heat from the sunlight shining down on his sultry girlfriend.

"Show me some hot poses today! I mean, look your sexiest like you always do! You're just too beautiful for me not to get happy and turned on by you when you're in lingerie, Reināre!" Sting told her with a crimson red blush on his somewhat embarrassed face, before getting the green spell book off of the sand before the water from the tide could get it wet.

"Sting, it's ok. You can be detailed about how sexy I look. I'm your girlfriend, after all. I really like it when you give me your flirty and flustered compliments, so I'll dedicate all my poses to you. Just don't expect a harem this time, unless the book reacts to perverted feeling as well." She responded with a flirtatious smile, before kissing his lips and letting her hands run through his spiky blond hair.

After giving Sting that kiss, and feeling him return it, Reināre turned back to face Minerva and she followed her rival to join the line of the girls from the other guilds who were here for the photo shoot. Unlike Cana, who looked calm and ready, Reināre was actually a little bit nervous about being featured in a magazine like this. She had never posed for the top 10 sexiest girls in Fiore, and she didn't want to blink and look bad for all of Earthland to eventually see. She could only think of relaxing and sunbathing, since she was at the beach, and the heat actually made things better.

"It's a great day for sunbathing, and I know I'll look pretty sexy in that magazine. After all, the sun is just as hot as I can be!" Her and Minerva said aloud simultaneously, as they both tried looking confident. Upon noticing they both thought the same thing, Minerva turned around to give Reināre a stern glare. Clearly, something was weird for them to both think in sync in that moment.

"I hope you don't mind seeing me on the page before yours, if Jason's going in our lineup order. That means you'll be fourth, Reināre-tan. Finally, the eyes of many men will be on me before they get to see you. Try not to embarrass Sabertooth, even though your pale skin could use an improvement." Minerva told her in an arrogant tone, as she gave her rival a deriding look.

Before the violet-eyed girl could even respond, Reināre gasped a little bit upon seeing Minerva open up her bottle of tanning oil and give her a tan from head to toe. She even rubbed her back and her shoulders nice and slowly to loosen the tension, causing Reināre to sigh happily as she imagined Sting doing this. Obviously, Minerva wanted the top spots to go to both girls in Sabertooth, refusing to lose to Fairy Tail in any kind of contest. Upon feeling that Reināre had such soft and well-maintained raven-black hair like she did, Minerva looked satisfied to know they shared the interest of shampooing and conditioning their hair to make it look simply beautiful.

Sting and the other males stood on the sand away from where the photos were being taken, and the white dragon slayer was waiting for Reināre to show off her sexy skills. Of course, she had never received training in modeling for something like this. He knew that she would make herself look stunning in those photos, though. Cheering excitedly for her, as he held the spell book in his right hand, Sting was unaware that his right hand and the book were aimed at the sea, causing the spell book to turn cerulean blue and radiate a cerulean glow.

"Reināre is going to make this look good, no matter how she poses." He said aloud to himself with a confident facial expression, as his blue eyes were fixated on her and her sexy blue lingerie.

"For someone wearing a bra and panties cool blue, she's pretty hot." Orga added while chuckling a little, as his eyes shifted from Minerva to Reināre for a moment.

Sting looked slightly annoyed at Orga having a somewhat perverted smile directed at his girlfriend, and he knocked him down with a simple White Dragon's Roar.

He gave Rufus a stern look, asking him if he wanted to get hit hard like what just happened to Orga, and Rufus simply whistled as he turned to side while he secretly memorized how Minerva and Reināre looked right now.

After Jason took some photos of Erza in her red bikini, Minerva's turn was up next. She smiled for the camera, and Jason began to take pictures of Minerva whilst instructing her to do a series of sultry poses. As the camera was flashing, Reināre looked slightly nervous to be next. She didn't know if she could match up to her rival in a battle like this, but she also wanted to impress Sting. He was watching her with coolness and confidence in his enchanting blue eyes, reassuring her that she could definitely succeed at something like this.

Not having any real experience in posing seductively, Reināre had memorized all of Minerva's movements for her photo shoot. Could she possibly copy them, and make them seem to be better and sexier with some of her own moves included?

Then, Minerva walked away when Jason motioned for Reināre to step in front of the camera. Positivity came into her violet eyes, as she was ready to pose for her page in Sorcerer Magazine. She started things off by blowing a kiss at the camera and smiling, earning a flash from the camera. Afterwards, she laid on her stomach while relaxing on the sand with her breasts on her dark blue bra. She immediately put it back on for the next picture, where she laid on her back and blushed while smiling seductively. Fourthly, she sat on her knees while letting her dark blue bra show off a little more of her appealing cleavage. Fifthly, she sat down on the hot sand while appearing to spread her legs a little bit as she winked with her left eye. Finally, she lowered her sapphire blue panties to show off some of her sexy and curvy rear. Minerva's oil had added a nice touch, giving Reināre a good-looking tan that was lighter than her rival's.

Jason exclaimed excitedly, as he looked at Reināre still being in her sultry pose, "Reināre Katsura, you are so cool! You rocked in your match against Bacchus in the Grand Magic Games, and you're so sexy! You and Minerva Orlando act like total rivals, but you make a sexy and supreme team! Sabertooth gets the front cover of Sorcerer Magazine, and two individual pages! Blue and green lingerie is so cool and calm, but you two just make it look so hot! That's so amazingly cool!"

* * *

Minerva and Reināre both cheered happily, since they beat Fairy Tail for the front cover of this job, and the rivals unexpectedly shared a hug while posing for the front cover of Sorcerer Magazine. Cana also clapped and cheered for Reināre, knowing she was Lucy. However, Erza angrily glared at the two females from Sabertooth. She didn't like the fact that they had won, especially since those girls were currently her two worst enemies. She didn't like Minerva because of her cruel and sadistic ways, and Erza didn't like Reināre because of how she always fought hard against her with the intent to make Team Natsu pay for how they treated Lucy Heartfilia. Erza honestly had to wonder if Lucy and Reināre became close friends or something.

Quickly requipping and swapping out her red bikini for her Heaven's Wheel Armor, Erza dashed past Cana and lunged at Reināre with the two swords in her hands that were made from Blumenblatt. The violet-eyed girl's senses immediately kicked in, and she dodged Erza's strikes with ease. Minerva and Reināre exchanged awkward glances for a moment, almost as if they were thinking of temporarily putting their differences aside to deal with a mutual enemy. The other 200 swords were about to strike duo, but Reināre looked at the blue nail on the index finger of her right hand. She activated a new spell known as Aqua Reeling Chain, and this new spell caused a twister of blue water to appear in the ocean. It released 200 blue beams of energy, a perfect match for 200 swords.

The blue beams of energy wrapped themselves around the swords, and pulled them all towards the spinning twister of water. One by one, blue explosions of Water Magic occurred when the swords made contact with the twister. They were all being obliterated quickly, much to Erza's shock. However, Reināre wasn't her only opponent. Erza soon found herself having to use her swords to cancel out Minerva's exploding energy waves, and she readied herself to strike the sadistic woman when she found an opening.

Minerva quickly ran towards Erza, and followed up her series of attacks with a kick that propelled Erza into the sky. Reināre could see a new spell in her mind, and it seemed pretty interesting to use. While she was looking at her nail, however, Reināre didn't notice Erza throwing her two swords down at her. She couldn't react fast enough, and both of the swords stabbed Reināre in the stomach. She fell to the ground, but something was odd. Instead of blood coming out of her, blue water was released from her body. Suddenly, Reināre turned into a puddle of water. Minerva and Erza both looked shocked at the sight of this, wanting to know what was going on.

Reināre emerged from a small whirlpool in the ocean, and she was completely unharmed. She had used a spell known as Cerulean Clone, an assisting spell that made a decoy of its user take its place for an attack. However, Erza had only just begun to fight. She requipped into her Flight Armor, and made slicing cuts on Minerva's body with her Sonic Claw.

"I don't plan on losing to you. I defeated you once, and I can do it again." Erza told Minerva with a stern glare on her face, as she kept slashing at her at high speeds with her Sonic Claw.

"That's funny because I was about to tell you that I defeated you numerous times, and I can do it again." Reināre spoke for Minerva in a cold tone, as she shot a death glare at Erza while a blue aura began to surround her body. A new spell of Water Magic was obviously being written, and it was probably going to cool down this hotheaded situation.

She ran back to Sting to retrieve her blue spell book, and it began to radiate a glow in various shades of blue. Upon looking at this new spell, Reināre had a feeling that this would stop Erza in her tracks. Sting could only wonder what the book would give Lucy this time, and he wondered if it would be unorthodox like the fruit offense/defense spell from Plant Magic.

Taking a deep breath, Reināre shouted with a determined facial expression while wanting to be rid of Erza because of the impressive grudge they had, "All right, Erza! You really shouldn't be a sore loser, even if you have the attitude of one! Here's a new fusion spell of Water Magic, and it's called Water Demon's Cold Cerulean Cataclysm!"

This spell caused a copious amount of cerulean blue bubbles to appear around Erza, causing her and Minerva to laugh at this spell. What could bubbles possibly do? Based on the fact that these were Mal's spells, anything that appeared would be far from mediocre. Then, tiny icicles began to appear in the center of Reināre's left palm. Her aim was perfect, as she threw the icicles at the cerulean bubbles. Cerulean blue blasts of energy began to occur on the beach, as the bubbles popped with the icicles shattering, and these blasts had another interesting effect besides destruction. Their cold air restricted the opponent's movement, and the power of Water Magic induced rusting in Erza's swords. She had definitely taken damage from those freezing attacks, especially since they made her feel extremely cold.

Minerva told Erza with a sadistic smirk on her face, as she charged up a large energy wave in her right hand, "I don't waste my time testing out spells in crucial spells, unlike Reināre-tan. Bye, Erza."

She threw the attack at Erza, who was sent flying backwards into Cana. As the two girls fell to the sandy ground and rolled for a few seconds, Cana immediately stood up. She smiled at Lucy a.k.a. Reināre, knowing that they wouldn't have to fight. She carried Erza back to the Fairy Tail guild in her arms, and Cana also had to remember to lecture Lisanna for running off with the 300,000 jewels that Cana had to use to buy booze for the guild.

* * *

"I think that matter is settled. Well, we got the job done." Sting told his friends with a calm smile on his face, before running to hug Reināre for another victory and for doing such sexy poses for Sorcerer Magazine.

Jason yelled with a thrilled facial expression, as he had been taking pictures the entire time, "That battle was awesome and cool! Reināre and Minerva may not have done much, but that battle was savage! Reināre's finishing move was literally cool, not to mention chilling!"

Orga accepted the 300,000 jewels from Jason, and he snickered when he saw Minerva trying to make Rufus cease from hugging her. With them being the two beautiful women in Sabertooth, how could they not like getting hugged? Sting and Reināre shared a hug, and the white dragon slayer still liked the smell of her blue raspberry perfume. Sting definitely wanted to go out to eat, after seeing his girlfriend pull off a stunning move like that, and he smiled happily when his girlfriend agreed.

"Hey, Reināre. Do you want to tell me what your conflict is with Erza? What's the tense history between you two?" Minerva asked out of curiosity, putting a hand on her rival's shoulder.

She replied with a smile on her face, before giving Minerva a friendly hug, "I'd rather not say how I know her, Minerva. Besides, she's a friend from my past. The friendship that you and I now have is an unexpected gift in the present."

**How was Chapter 26? It was a pretty hot and cool chapter, huh? Minerva and Reināre are now friends, but they still have a rivalry. There will be more StiCy! Will Sting ever get his feelings under control? Can Lucy control the book's romance levels when the Clone Magic is used again? What happens in a sub-plot to utterly be poison for the guild known as Lavender Moon? Is Mal finally making moves? Standby for Chapter 27!**


	27. Chapter 27

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. Hiro Mashima does. This story was made for fun, and not for cash. (How unfortunate.)**

* * *

Lucy and Sting were at an ice cream shop to start off their morning, respectively having double chocolate with peanut butter and butterscotch with vanilla. This was Sting's other reward for his girlfriend, since she had put on quite a good display of sexiness and strength for the photo shoot for Sorcerer Magazine and her battle against Erza. Sting had a smile on his face, awaiting the day that he would see his girlfriend in a magazine. Of course, the only thing better than seeing her in a magazine was always getting to see her in person.

As the white dragon slayer scooped up some ice cream into his spoon and ate it, he noticed that Lucy didn't exactly look happy whilst eating her delicious treat. What was troubling her? Did she have something on her mind that she needed to tell Sting? Lucy could always tell him when something bleak was going on in her life, and he would always be there to listen. However, what was putting a troubled look into her brown eyes?

"Are you okay, Lucy? What's wrong? You know you can exchange your ice cream for a different flavor, if you don't like it, right?" Sting asked his girlfriend with a concerned facial expression, gently putting his left hand on her right hand to give her some comfort if it was necessary.

She replied with a worried look on her face, her eyes shifting from the blue spell book to Sting's blue eyes, "It's not the ice cream, Sting. You may think I'm totally insane for saying this, but I don't think we should work with those black spells ever again. I never told you this, but when I used them... I felt myself being overtaken by a dark presence. I don't want to lose myself to the Hellish Shadow Magic, Sting!"

Soft sobs wracked her body, as she trembled while remembering the chilling and malevolent feeling of the power from the black spells. She had to admit that the spells were powerful, but why would the book give Hellish Shadow Magic an alternate way of being triggered? It worked with Lucy's dark feelings of hate, vengeance, despair, and pain in her heart, in contrast to the other types of magic that could be triggered by feelings of love, fierceness, confidence, and determination. The book obviously had its own logic for spells, since it could make whirlpools reel in its targets and make Lucy spit out volcanic liquid from her mouth as a way of immobilizing and attacking her opponents.

However, those black spells were powerful. They had done serious damage to Natsu and Lisanna, mostly to the latter, and Lucy could somehow tell that the book was keeping restraints on the spells for each type of magic. This was most likely done to keep the spells from raging out of control at their full unrestrained power, since they would possibly have catastrophic and apocalyptic effects. A few tears fell from Lucy's eyes, as she thought that she would never be able to control her own magic.

Seeing that his girlfriend needed comfort, Sting went around to her side of the table and gave her a warm hug. He didn't want Lucy to feel scared of her own power, as that would most likely make her become scared of herself at some point and be drowned deep in self-doubt and perpetual sadness. She might become emotionless, and feel inferior, and Sting didn't want Lucy to feel like she had to worry about this problem all by herself. Just because she was the one who wielded the book and its magic, that didn't mean Lucy had to be alone when encountering some of the book's dark secrets.

"You're not alone, Lucy. As long as I'm here with you, we'll handle those black spells together. When things get dark, I'll be your light. I did save you from that dark power, you know. Maybe light counteracts darkness, in a sense. That reminds me of the time Rogue and I found a Dark Stone and a Light Stone, along with some weird legend of two feuding dragons of darkness and light." Sting told her in a kind tone to calm her down, before kissing her forehead with bliss and ease in his soft lips.

Lucy stopped crying, and a smile of relief made its way on to her face while she blushed a light shade of pink. She wiped the tears away from her eyes for a moment, and gave Sting a wonderful kiss on the lips. He had always comforted her when she was feeling down about something, and the calm sense of confidence in his charming blue eyes made Lucy realize that she hadn't unlocked all of these spells on her own. Sting had majorly helped her become stronger, and he would obviously assist her in harnessing the power of these seriously-damaging spells.

"Sting, you're the most supportive boyfriend ever. I feel a little embarrassed for worrying about the black spells, as if was alone, when I'm not dealing with them by myself. You and I are going to handle them together, when the time comes, and we will succeed in being Fiore's greatest team. You once told me you'd be Fiore's greatest dragon slayer, and I guess all the recognition I've gotten as Reināre makes me a powerful wizard! With our skills, we can defeat anybody!" Lucy replied happily, as she had a pleasured look in her brown eye when they moved from Sting's face to his abdominals for a moment.

Speaking of something pleasurable, Lucy opened her blue spell book and turned to a page where the spells were obscured by a brown flyer. She had taken another job yesterday when no one was looking, and Lucy showed it to Sting. His eyes widened in shock, upon seeing that the client was asking for the retrieval of a purple orb from the Poison Swamp. Now why would anyone lose something valuable in a place like that? That place wasn't exactly friendly to the fish with its poisoned waters, and the toxic gas around the swamp smelled utterly awful. Even though the client offered up 500,000 jewels, Sting folded his arms and turned away in refusal.

Having an idea, Lucy transformed into Reināre once again. She wore a scarlet red T-shirt with a ruby red miniskirt and cherry red high heels. Then, she used the Clone Magic to make a clone of herself appear in between herself and Sting. The clone wore a light purple T-shirt with a black miniskirt, and some amethyst purple high heels. Since she had the same brain as the original Reināre, she picked up the brown flyer and walked out of the ice cream shop with her purple book held in her left hand. However, before really leaving, she ran back inside to kiss Sting's lips. Well, Reināre couldn't exactly be mad. It was still her, except the clone had a higher libido.

* * *

**Meanwhile, at Fairy Tail...**

While things were getting good with Lucy, Erza's body shivered and her teeth chattered as Natsu used his Fire Dragon's Roar repeatedly to defrost the chilling ice that occurred as another side effect of Reināre's most recent fusion spell. Erza had woken up in Fairy Tail's infirmary to find herself frozen in ice, and she thanked god that Natsu had walked in there by mistake. He had melted away the ice from the top part of Erza's body, and he was now working on her lower half.

"That damn Reināre is full of tricks, seriously. Whoever invented that bubble spell for her to use is going to pay, since I don't like being a human ice sculpture!" Erza shouted with a frustrated facial expression, as even her strongest swords weren't making a single crack in the abnormal chunk of ice that surrounded her waist and everything below.

The fire dragon slayer sternly thought, as he stopped using his flaming fists and switched to Fire Dragon's Roar, _"I still can't believe that Gray ran into Lucy, and said how he had to hold back to reestablish their friendship. Well, no one cares if she doesn't come back! It's not like we all have time to search every inch of Fiore for her, you know!"_

While Natsu was defrosting Erza, Cana was working behind the bar since Mirajane went out on a job with Elfman. Lisanna had taken a job with Juvia, leaving Gray as the only member of Team Natsu who could take a job on his own right now. He sat on a barstool, drinking sugary tea that Mira made before she left for her job with Elfman, and he did look slightly happier than he did yesterday. Knowing more about Mal and her book was a good thing, even though he would probably never have to fight a spirit.

Cana asked him with a kind smile on her face, before drinking some alcohol from a keg, "What's got you in a good mood today, Gray?"

The ice mage replied nicely while smirking, "Now that I know Lucy and Reināre have similar spell books, I just have to find others that look similar to those! After all, books in a series by the same person who made all those spells have to be sold separately! I just have to search all the black markets, since books with forbidden spells would obviously be there! Maybe that's how I'll be evenly matched with Lucy, and convince her to come back!"

"Yeah, it'll be that easy with no complications of any kind." Cana sarcastically replied, knowing all too well that Lucy was Reināre and that Gray had just seen the same book in a different color.

Gray sighed in disappointment upon knowing that Cana was right, and he had to admit that his plan was foolish. After all, convincing Lucy to return and taking her back by force were things that were easier said than done. Those spells of Plant Magic contained massive amounts of magical power, and Gray really was surprised to see Lucy use Caster Magic and presumably learn those spells through sheer effort alone. Was she truly a genius, similar to how Reināre seemed to be?

The ice mage was so deep in thought, so he didn't notice Makarov and Mavis walking over to the bar with smiles on their faces. Clearly, upon sensing magical power from the spell book, Mavis was here to help Makarov inform Gray of the mage known as Mal. After all, if the history books kept varying about Mal, what would be better than hearing about her from the person who defeated her in their climatic battle that decided the fate of the world?

"Hello, Gray. Makarov told me that you want to learn some more about Mal. Well, she was a mage who devoted her time to learning many types of magic. She was also very quiet, and never liked being around other people. I never knew what land or town she had come from, and all she did was look at her spell book. One day, when I went through her stuff in the Fairy Hills dormitory, I found her black book and the words in it had been written in different colors, along with being in different olden languages. I was shocked to see that she made a book of spells, and I was even more shocked at their catastrophic effects. The fact that Mal recklessly unleashed her spells, as she kept making more, was really brought to my attention by light and dark guilds alike. In the end, I had no choice but to excommunicate her after she made large tornadoes of wind annihilate dark guilds all over Fiore and also severely hurt many innocent people in the process." Mavis explained, looking down sadly whilst remembering Mal.

Cana commented, as she smiled a little, "The books say you destroyed Mal, though. She's already in the netherworld, First Master. I just don't see why Gray's making such a big deal over a dead person, since he can't manipulate souls like Bickslow can."

Mavis replied, as she sighed sadly while looking at everyone, "I may have destroyed Mal's physical form, but her last minute trick merged her spirit with the shadows of my Fairy Glitter spell. The shadows entered her spell book, which was preserved in Fairy Tail's library. Now that it's missing, along with these sudden alternate versions of the book suddenly appearing, I don't know what's going on. It's also strange how Lucy's been missing for a while, obviously roaming throughout Fiore or in a different land."

Gray clenched his fists in pure seriousness of how this matter seemed, and he could only wish there was a special team of S-Class mages that could probably hunt down Lucy and bring her back without any major problems happening. However, one issue kept returning to him like a boomerang. Where would the retrieval team even begin to look? Lucy probably left Hakutai Town, but Natsu and Gajeel may be able to track her scent. However, since she had vanished into a puff of smoke, that idea reached the end of its road as well.

* * *

**Elsewhere, at Poison Swamp... **

Reināre's clone in purple and black clothing had arrived at Poison Swamp, a seasonally flooded bottomland with more woody plants than a marsh and better drainage than a bog. She could smell the toxic gas in the air, and the purple water didn't exactly look healthy enough to drink. Having the same brain as the original Reināre, she had to wonder how the client in the job request could've been so foolish to lose a purple orb in a place like this. It could be at the bottom of the lake, or buried somewhere in the marshy swamp, for all she knew.

Upon opening her purple spell book, Reināre's clone accidentally slipped on the soft mud and dropped the book. It rolled into the purple water, much to her disgust and chagrin. She really wanted to teach this client a lesson, especially since being in Poison Swamp was only a good place for someone like Cobra or mages who were immune to Poison Magic and its toxins.

Seeing no other way to get this job done without it, Reināre's clone put her left hand in the purple water and felt sticky purple gunk instead of regular water. This swamp was obviously where the gunk and sludge originated for the Poison Labyrinth in the Grand Magic Games of X792, and she was thankful that Sabertooth got through that event easily without slipping up or getting their reputation dragged through the muck. (Puns intended.)

She felt the purple book, and pulled it out of the toxic and possibly acidic water. Much to her surprise, the spell book was in perfect condition without a single sign of being wet or damage. The book suddenly began to glow amethyst purple, prompting the violet-eyed girl to open it and see some new spells on the page where spells of Darkness Magic hadn't been written yet. Instead, the words in amethyst purple represented Poison Magic. Ten spells appeared, some of them being fusions of Poison Magic and others requiring collaborations.

Suddenly, an amethyst purple aura began to spiral around her body while she breathed in all of the toxic gas through her nose and mouth. She could envision all of the spells of Poison Magic in her mind, and her feelings became twisted with disgust and unleashing a sadistic amount of toxicity on her enemies. A vengeful look appeared in her violet eyes, as Natsu suddenly came to her mind.

Interestingly enough, Lisanna and Juvia came out of the water from the Poison Swamp and they were safe inside Juvia's Water Bubbles. Reināre's clone narrowed her purple eyes at Lisanna, who seemed to be holding the purple orb in her hands. Wanting to have a little fun, she looked at the first spell in the purple spell book and smirked evilly. What would come from this first spell?

Lisanna shouted with an amazed facial expression, as she looked straight ahead, "Juvia, look! It's Reināre from the Sabertooth guild! She must've been informed of the same job we have, which is to find the purple orb!"

However, Juvia took notice a little too late. Purple blobs of unsanitary sludge struck the bubbles, resulting in amethyst purple blasts of Poison Magic occurring on the water. Lisanna and Juvia were sent flying into the air, landing directly in front of Reināre afterwards. She would have to call that spell "Toxic Bombs."

"That was definitely an underhanded move, Reināre, and Juvia will make you pay for that!" The Rain Woman shouted with a fierce facial expression, before using Water Slicer to send many blades of water at her opponent.

Reināre used the second spell, which was known as Shielding Smog. This spell made Reināre unleash a large amount of purple smoke from her mouth, and some more amethyst purple blasts occurred when the slicing blades of water made the slightest amount of contact with the smog. When they were all neutralized, the purple smoke quickly cleared up.

Juvia looked stunned to see a shield be created from smog, and Lisanna quickly went into her Animal Soul: Tigress Take-over to slash at her opponent for trying to interfere on a job when they had gotten the purple orb from the Poison Swamp first. She lunged at Reināre, who activated the third spell of Poison Magic. It caused Reināre to spit out a small purple needle from her mouth, and it landed an inch above one of Lisanna's veins on her left arm. Quite lucky to not be fatally hit, don't you think?

However, Lisanna suddenly found her left arm to be paralyzed. After removing the needle, Lisanna could see the tiny purple mark begin to expand on her arm. That could only mean the poison was now spreading inside of her, and it would expedite its assassination process if left untreated somehow. Juvia was about to counterattack for Lisanna, but then she suddenly felt gravity massively slamming itself down on her body. She fell to her knees, and glared harshly when she saw Reināre with purple rings of gravitational energy floating slightly above her palms.

"If I'm not original for my obliterating moves, what fun would that be?" Reināre's clone asked sadistically, as the amethyst purple aura changed to being violet to symbolize that she was switching to Darkness Magic.

* * *

**At the Sabertooth guild...**

Sting and Reināre arrived at the guild, and they had to find something to do while letting Reināre's clone search for that orb in Poison Swamp. The jobs on the request board only offered up 3,000 jewels at the most, with some of the requests being mediocre tasks like digging holes and babysitting kids for a few hours. Sting sighed in dissatisfaction, but then he looked behind him to see Rogue, Frosch, and Lector sitting at a table whilst eating waffles drenched in maple syrup.

"Hey, Rogue. What's up? Where are Minerva, Rufus, and Orga?" Sting asked with a curious facial expression, as he sat across from the shadow dragon slayer.

Rogue replied calmly while using his knife and fork to cut up his waffles, "They went out on a job to Nimbasa Town, and I didn't feel like tagging along with them. Besides, I've been sensing the book's powers being used in a swamp that's near there. That's an immense amount of magical power, Sting. Please tell me you didn't teach Lucy how the different types of magic coincide with the eight limiters of magical power in the human body." (In this story, Rogue's abilities as a shadow dragon slayer ascended to where he can sense and pinpoint the location of magical power.)

Sting told him with a confident smirk on his face, as Lucy a.k.a. Reināre walked over to the table with two plates of waffles that were smothered with maple syrup, "Relax, Rogue. There may be eight main types of magic, but we won't release the restraints on the spells. If the book releases them to give her more power, then I'll jump in when it gets bad for either us or our opponents."

Reināre sighed happily, as she sat down, upon seeing her boyfriend's confident smirk. His smile always took her into a world of affection, and his blue eyes were so enchanting. He always helped her stay positive, no matter what the situation may be. She still remembered the day when they were training at the beach near Humilau Town, and Sting only wore his white swim trunks. His arms were so muscular, and his six-pack abdominals were so charming to look at. Sting even looked hot when a drop a sweat left his forehead, and sizzled out on his chest. This definitely induced Reināre into having an erotic fantasy, that's for sure.

* * *

**(Note: This part contains some lemon.)**

Reināre found herself back at the beach near Humilau Town, and she only wore a skimpy and sexy red bikini. She decided to lay on her stomach, and stretch her body out on the hot brown sand of the beach. She noticed an umbrella and two beach chairs set up nearby, most likely done by her boyfriend Sting. After turning over to lay on her back, Reināre blushed a light shade of pink when she imagined that Sting was heating up her back with his hot and soft breaths.

Speaking of Sting, the white dragon slayer was walking towards her with a smile on his face whilst carrying the wooden picnic basket that was filled with food from various concession stands in Humilau Town. He also held a cone of blue mint chocolate chip ice cream in his left hand, as he carried the basket with his right hand. Reināre giggled happily, as she ran to her boyfriend to greet him.

"Hi, Sting. I'm glad that we could spend time together at the beach." She told him in a sultry tone, before blushing and turning away from him while her breasts bounced a little from behind their constraints.

The white dragon slayer responded with a flirty smirk on his face, "I'm glad that we're here, too. It's such a hot day, but you're even hotter than the sunlight. Wearing red just heats you up even more, and I love it."

Reināre turned back around to face Sting, still blushing cherry red and wrapping her arms around his waist while she smiled seductively. She loved to receive flattery from Sting, and she proceeded to give him an amorous kiss on the lips to show him that the sexual passion he saw in her photo shoot was only a little bit of what she had to offer him.

However, their hot kiss was put to a halt when Sting accidentally threw his ice cream cone into the air. The mint ice cream landed in the crack of Reināre's ample cleavage, but she managed to catch the waffle cone with her left hand. She could feel the cold treat melting into her breasts, and she didn't want her new lacy red bra to get stained with mint ice cream. She quickly unhooked it, and slowly dropped it to the ground for Sting to see her large breasts and pink nipples.

She asked Sting while smiling, as his face was now red with blush and something in his pants was slowly hardening whilst gaining weight and length, "Aren't you going to finish your ice cream, my love? It's nice and cold for you."

Sting couldn't believe that he had an opportunity like this. His girlfriend was asking him to remove the ice cream from her breasts, and what better way would there be to give them both pleasure and satisfaction from this task? Without the slightest bit of hesitation, Sting dove his face into the wonderful cleavage of his girlfriend and used his tongue to lick up all of the dripping substance that coated her breasts. The coldness of the ice cream had made her nipples become slightly more erect, prompting Sting to suck on the left one.

"I like my ice cream with something special included, you know." He told her with a passionate facial expression, before proceeding to suck her nipple and make her fall backwards on to the brown soft sand.

Reināre could only elicit a soft moan of pleasure, and Sting sucked on her left nipple. The blush on her face was now scarlet red, and her mind was definitely giving the sense of pleasure to her body. She screamed a little when Sting's fangs accidentally gave her nipple a slight bite, and he made up for this by rubbing her right breast with his soft left hand. He put down the picnic basket on the sand to free his right hand, and he caressed Reināre's stomach with enough ease to make her shudder.

She let out soft breaths of satisfaction, feeling a little bit wet from how the white dragon slayer was turning her on with his caressing, rubbing, sucking, and biting of her body. His sweat landed on her skin, making her know the heat of how turned on he was becoming as well. When his right hand brushed against her red bikini bottom, Sting felt a slight amount of wetness behind the red fabric. He looked into Reināre's eyes before making any advances, and he saw a happy look of access being granted in her violet eyes.

"I'll help you out with this, my sweet Sting." Reināre told him in a seductive tone, as she put a finger to his lips and had a romantic look of desiring pleasure in her violet eyes.

She took off her red bikini bottom for Sting to see a neatly trimmed field of black hair surrounding her entrance like grassy dark plains leading into a cave. This would be her first time ever being penetrated, but she knew that Sting would go slow, soft, smooth, and easy upon trying to enter her sacred area.

"You look so good, you know that?" He asked her with a kind smile, evaluating her from head to toe.

* * *

**In reality...**

The white dragon slayer had just asked her while kindly smiling, "You chose a good flavor of syrup for the waffles, you know that?"

She replied with a cherry red blush on her face, suddenly snapping out of her fantasy and smiling back, "Thank you, Sting! You always know how to make me feel so good inside! You're the best boyfriend that I could ever have!"

Lector thought to himself while smirking at Sting and giving him a thumbs-up gesture, _"She was definitely thinking about you, Sting-kun! Lucy-kun is definitely falling for your charms!"_

* * *

**Back at the Poison Swamp...**

Reināre's clone that wielded Darkness Magic had finally finished charging up her new move, and it was sure to be a big one. She slammed her hands together, as if she was fusing the rings together. With the Poison Magic still being in effect, since the battle was at Poison Swamp, the sphere in her right hand was amethyst purple. The sphere in her left hand was violet purple, and Reināre smirked when Juvia and Lisanna were respectively surrounded by violet and amethyst auras.

"I can say hello to the purple orb, and it's goodbye for you two. Tell Fairy Tail that I send my best disregards. Oh, wait. That message is for Mavis, and it's from her old enemy named Mal." The violet-eyed girl told her opponents with a sadistic facial expression, as she crushed the two energies in her fists.

A violet purple blast of Darkness Magic occurred from underneath Juvia, causing her to be sent flying into the air to be attacked by violet drills of energy made from the blast. They tore through her clothing and her body, as they exploded from being unable to handle the tremendous energy that Mal poured into them. An amethyst purple blast of Poison Magic occurred from underneath Lisanna, sending her into the air while amethyst purple clouds of poison gas began to explode around her. Lisanna and Juvia screamed in pain from the devastating attacks, the latter looking shocked when her opponent revealed that she was Mal.

Mal laughed evilly at the fact that she could merge with clones from the darker shades of certain types of magic, and she looked extremely sadistic while picking up the purple orb and using Dark Acceleration at quintuple the average speed that Lucy/Reināre could go to deliver it to the client and get those 500,000 jewels. After quickly getting the money, and returning back to the Sabertooth guild, Mal groaned and looked frustrated when she could feel Lucy a.k.a. Reināre dispelling her into a white puff of smoke after feeling her presence.

_"Fairy Tail is like a bridge of friendship, as Mavis belabored to me when I was seeking all of my glorious power. Well, that bridge is going to be falling apart. One by one, the mages shall all fall. As for this girl, I'll call those spells Poison Demon's Gas Grenade and Darkness Demon's Disintegrating Destruction to give her those new powers. If they were in my hands, those restraints would be nullified. Unfortunately, I'm not the book's master anymore. Damn it, my own curses are backfiring." _Mal thought, as she disappeared along with the purple spell book.

* * *

**How was Chapter 27? More StiCy has come along, as you can see. Even though my original idea changed, let me know how this chapter turned out. Will Sting and Lucy have to find treasure? What will happen when Rufus' spell makes contact with the book? What does Minerva feel from Reināre? What does Rogue finally tell Sting? Will Mal reveal herself to Sabertooth? How is Fairy Tail dropping by? Standby for Chapter 28!**


	28. Chapter 28

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. Hiro Mashima does. This story was made for fun, and not for cash. (How unfortunate.)**

* * *

Reināre had slept with Sting for the rest of the entire day yesterday, since there hadn't been any good jobs at the Sabertooth guild or any reason to stick around there. They had gotten the 500,000 jewels that her clone of Darkness Magic had brought in from that exasperating job at the Poison Swamp, and Sting recommended that they save all that money for rent and not blow through it all in one week. The two mages slept together peacefully on Reināre's bed, snoring softly while the sunlight shined down on them. Sting slowly opened his left eye to see his that his girlfriend had rested her head on his chest, and a light pink blush was on her happy face. Clearly, she was having a good dream.

Sting gasped softly to find that his hands were on Reināre's breasts, almost like they had been groping or fondling them to give her some kind of relief in a weird way. His soft hands were good at relaxing her body and easing tension of any kind. Even when she was feeling down, getting her shoulders massaged by Sting made Lucy a.k.a. Reināre happy. Speaking of feeling happy, he remembered how she feared using the Hellish Shadow Magic. Sting knew they would have to work with it sometime, possibly when Lucy felt like she needed to access that type of magic at some point.

Well, luckily for both of them, Lucy would be able to breathe a sigh of relief for today. Sting planned to help her improve with Heavenly Body Magic, since she hadn't been using it much. On top of that, the book balanced the number of spells for each type of magic to make them all on the same level for its master. If she worked hard enough, along with mastering all of the book's spells in the process, Sting really could see Lucy becoming an ultimate sorceress. That worked quite well, since he intended to be Fiore's best dragon slayer. They certainly made the ultimate team, did they not?

The white dragon slayer ran his fingers through his girlfriend's black hair, enjoying the blue raspberry smell and the softness of it. He took a deep sniff to really know how lovely she smelled, and his deep sniffing caused her to open her violet eyes and blush when she could feel her own hands stroking Sting's abdominals like she had presumably been doing in her dream. She looked out the window for a moment to see the sunlight and the clear blue sky, prompting her to yawn and smile.

"Good morning, Sting. Today is sure to be a great day! When I was looking through the blue spell book, I noticed some new spells in amethyst purple text. They represent Poison Magic, which my clone presumably got from Poison Swamp yesterday. They sure sound powerful, but we'll test them out later. After all, a new day means focusing on a new type of magic." Lucy told him with a smile on her face, before getting off of Sting to stretch her body out and start her day.

"Morning, Lucy. This is the day for Heavenly Body Magic getting its chance to shine, and I hope there's a job perfect for us to test out these spells. Anyway, let's go out and get some breakfast." Sting replied, as he kindly smiled and got out of bed whilst removing the white bed sheet from his body.

Before putting on his clothes, Sting walked over to Lucy and gave her a gentle kiss on the cheek for them both to start off their day with some love. He was blushing as well, since they were both showing off their bare beauty right now. Sting suddenly looked confused, smelling something from the kitchen whilst enjoying Reināre's scent. It wasn't dangerous to have any cause for alarm, but who could be making food in Lucy's apartment? Surely Minerva wouldn't teleport in here to make food for Reināre, so who could possibly be the intruder?

He quickly put on his clothes, and ran out of the bedroom to confront to the person who had cooked breakfast. Still, why would a thief make breakfast? They probably tried leaving finished plates of food as their mark, but Sting refused to let anyone steal from his girlfriend's apartment. Sting ran out into the living room, as he readied a White Dragon's Roar to defeat the crook. Much to his shock, no one was in the living room or kitchen. Lucy's expensive-looking belongings were still in their exact places from last night, and the only odd thing was that two plates of pancakes, eggs, and sausages were on the table with two cups of hot sugary tea, and Sting could smell that the food was recently made in the kitchen with surprising elegance for someone who had suddenly just vanished. Had Minerva or Rogue recently come in here, or was something else going on?

Since the food had obviously been made for them, with no poisons being detected from the delicious scents, Sting grabbed a fork and began to eat one of the blueberry pancakes. The food tasted just like how Lucy made it, but with the flavor increased in every bite. Did she have a twin or was this robber an exceptional chef? Either way, Sting was satisfied with the intruder's cooking.

Reināre came into the living room, now wearing a light pink T-shirt with an orange skirt, and some amethyst purple high heels, and she looked surprised to see that someone had made food for them and left without saying a single word. The fact that Sting was enjoying his pancakes, eggs, and sausages meant that the food wasn't tampered with as a prank from someone, and it was safe to eat. Still, who in the world would enter Lucy's apartment, make breakfast, not steal her valuables, and just disappear?

* * *

**At the Fairy Tail guild...**

Cana, Gray, and Wendy were trying their best to respectively restrain Mirajane, Elfman, and Erza from leaving Fairy Tail's entrance doors to go beat the crap out of Reināre for poisoning Lisanna and grievously injuring Juvia at Poison Swamp. They didn't care if the other mages in Sabertooth would retaliate, since they were now furious with their rival guild for having a mage who was even more devious than Minerva. Besides, Mira had a score to settle with the violet-eyed girl for nearly killing Lisanna in the Grand Magic Games. Even though she was in her normal Satan Soul form, Cana had an intense grip on Mira's large tail and refused to let her find out the truth about Reināre and most likely tell everyone.

Erza shouted at Wendy with a stern facial expression, feeling the young sky dragon slayer have a tight grip on her left leg, "Wendy, let me go! Those jerks in Sabertooth have messed with us for the last time! I won't let that bitch Reināre get away with what she's done! She had the audacity to want to join Fairy Tail, only to switch over to Sabertooth! Natsu told me how him and Lisanna saw her at Café Sonata with Sting, and Sabertooth probably loves her so much! She's a devil!"

Wendy responded to Erza in a harsh tone, as her brown eyes were narrowed, "Look, Erza! Did you ever think Reināre would treat you right, if you hadn't been so hurtful to Lucy? No wonder she always beats you up so badly! She's just giving you and the rest of Team Natsu the karma you deserve for kicking out Lucy like she was trash! So what if she relied on people? That's still no excuse for replacing her, tearing her down like she was a failure, and now she's roaming throughout Fiore while we can't do anything about it!"

Cana smiled and winked at Wendy for being good with a convincing lie like that, but she also knew that Erza and the rest of Team Natsu (At this point, Gray is debatable) had given up on seeing Lucy ever again. They had no idea where she could be, and Erza sometimes covered her ears in the past few days when Gray woke up from naps and shouted Lucy's name along with where he had seen her. Erza doubted that Lucy was even alive, not having sensed her magical power whatsoever.

Elfman added with a serious look, turning around to face Gray, "I think I understand now. It's not Reināre's fault that this happened, Mira-nee-chan. It's Team Natsu's fault! If they hadn't kicked out Lucy, like how Gajeel told me how the whole thing played out, she never would've gone to Castelia Town and told Reināre about her suffering! No wonder Reināre battled like a man against Natsu and nearly killed him. A real team of men don't make careless mistakes like that, especially when it reaches the ears of their rival guild!"

After listening to her younger brother and seeing this whole thing from a different angle, Mira decided to turn her anger towards Erza. As the two girls began to fly into the air and clash, as Gray and Elfman also began to clash, Cana and Wendy high-fived each other while respectively smirking and giggling softly.

While this was going on, Natsu and Gajeel were watching over Lisanna and Juvia in the infirmary. The Rain Woman was sleeping, but kept tossing and turning like something was troubling her. Wendy had managed to remove the poison from Lisanna's body, but she still needed time to heal from those brutal explosions. She was unconscious, recuperating from the intense damage that Mal had done.

The iron dragon slayer could tell that Reināre wasn't evil, and he also figured that Team Natsu was pretty wrong to point fingers at her just because of what Lisanna had said. Gajeel knew that they would believe her, but he mostly trusted Juvia to tell the truth about what happened at Poison Swamp. Besides, upon seeing the wounds on Juvia's body that were purple and seemed like something drilled through her body and her clothing, Gajeel sighed and could only guess this wasn't Reināre's handiwork.

"Mm.. Mmm... That's so vicious.. Don't torture Juvia anymore..." The Rain Woman muttered in her sleep, clearly looking like she was having a nightmare or remembering something.

Gajeel told her while looking somewhat freaked out, "Juvia, don't go crazy! Your nightmares aren't real! Wake up!"

"Unh... Get away from us... Stop attacking, Mal..." She said with a troubled facial expression, before falling off the bed and opening her eyes.

Gajeel thought to himself, as he raised an eyebrow and folded his arms, _"Who the heck is Mal? I guess that's the one who attacked Juvia."_

With this sudden revelation, Natsu screamed and clutched his head in pain. He didn't know what to believe, now that Juvia had told him and Gajeel that Reināre wasn't the perpetrator in the poisonous and perilous pummeling of his girlfriend. He also regretted the fact that he had been tending to defrosting Erza instead of accompanying Lisanna and Juvia to Poison Swamp. He wished that Ultear was here, so she could turn back time and give him the opportunity to burn up the flyer that caused this near-death catastrophe. Natsu had no idea who Mal was, but he would try his best to track down that dastardly mage and put an end to their cruelty.

* * *

**Concurrently, at the Sabertooth guild...**

Sting and Reināre had arrived at the guild to take a job for the day, only to see Minerva standing in front of the request board and giving Reināre a challenging smirk while she stood next to Rufus, Orga, and Rogue. Minerva had a brown flyer for a job in her left hand, but what gave her a reason to smirk at Reināre? What could the job possibly be?

Reināre told Minerva in a kind tone, as she and Sting walked over to see what was worth smirking about, "I know we're friends now, Minerva, but smirking at me like that might be misinterpreted as a rape face. Let me guess. You want to do a job with only me going with you."

"Your assumption is way off, Reināre. This job is going to be done by all six of us. Take a look at the flyer, and you'll see why." Minerva replied with a happy look in her eyes, presumably because the reward from the job had to be good.

The violet-eyed girl took the flyer from the hands of her rival, and noticed that the client requested that some mages try to find treasure in a place known as Tokusane Cave. Rumors had recently been swirling about a vast trove of treasure and golden treasure chests being sighted in the cave, and Reināre could tell from Minerva's challenging smirk that she was going to make this into a contest of who could find the treasure first. The winner would claim it all, thus leaving the losers with nothing. Tokusane Cave wasn't too far from Castelia Town, but why would the client tell them to take as much time as they needed?

"Okay, this is way too weird. First, Sting and I find breakfast from a supposed thief who makes it before disappearing, and now this job for a treasure hunt comes up with the client saying we should take our own sweet time with finding all that gold? You know, Minerva, this could just be a setup by a dark guild. Think about it. We find the way into the cave, we clear all possible booby traps, and then we find the room where the treasure is. Then, the dark mages come from behind and thank us for clearing the way for them before they laugh evilly and try to take it all. Clichéd, but it's a pretty clear scenario." Reināre explained with a cautious look on her face, thinking something like this was too good to be true.

Sting wanted to assure her that everything would be fine, but she did make some good points. What if they were being used like tools to clear obstacles for the dark mages, so they could easily reach the treasure and not be tired from having to put up with all the traps? Playing into the enemy's hands was never a good thing, especially since Sting had no idea who their enemies could be. Still, he had confidence that his girlfriend could take down any dark mage that came her way. He was about to give her a kiss for good luck, until Rufus spoke up.

"Do not worry about a thing, Miss Reināre. A beautiful woman like you shall have the perfect partners for backup, who are Sting and I. Even if your spells should fail, I've memorized the ones I've seen and twisted them into my own." Rufus told her with a kind smile on his face, as he adjusted his hat.

Before she could even ask or raise an eyebrow at how Rufus could do that, Reināre looked shocked when Rufus put his index and middle fingers near his temples and began to concentrate. He used a spell known as Memory Make: Flute of Lightning, and that was obviously a reference to Reināre's Air Guitar spell with Lightning Magic being used. A golden flute appeared in his left hand, and Rufus began to blow into it to make some beautiful music. However, despite the loveliness of the music, the electric flute made shock waves travel through the sound current and strike Reināre's book. It was knocked out of her hands, and it fell to the ground with a hard thud.

Everyone was shocked to see that instead of the book being fried and burning from the electricity, it suddenly turned bubblegum pink. Could this have occurred, as a result of Rufus using Memory-Make Magic? Reināre picked up the book to see that some new spells were being written, and the book referred to them as Psychic Magic. This was most likely caused by a mind-made spell making contact with it, similar to how the poison gunk triggered the Poison Magic. Upon reading the spells, Reināre discovered that half of them were fusions and they probably had some great added effects thrown into them.

She happily hugged Sting, and rested her head on his chest. Now they had two types of magic to master today, and that prolonged the wait for the black spells to be used again. Rufus quietly wished that he had gotten that hug, so he tried to hug Minerva since she was equally as beautiful as Reināre. Rogue simply kept his red eyes narrowed and focused on how the spell book turned bubblegum pink (different from the book's normal shade of pink), and he began to remember what he had read in the black spells. Two shades of a color represented the yin and yang of the book master's heart, but what would come from Psychic Magic?

"Can we all stop getting weird over Reināre, and do the job already?" Minerva sternly asked, looking annoyed at the fact that they hadn't even left the guild yet because of Reināre's cautiousness and her book.

With determination in her violet eyes, Reināre smirked confidently and used the Clone Technique. She made a clone of herself appear from a puff of white smoke, and the clone wore a hot pink T-shirt that left her stomach exposed, along with a cerulean blue skirt, and some forest green high heels. She had the bubblegum pink spell book in her hands, obviously telling everyone that she was the one who used Psychic Magic.

While everyone else seemed impressed or shocked, Rogue calmly looked at Lucy a.k.a. Reināre and her clone. While they looked similar, even though their outfits weren't exactly the same, a difference in their violet eyes caught the attention of the shadow dragon slayer. Reināre had confidence and joy in her violet eyes, but her clone's eyes had a somewhat shifty look. It was almost as if she was planning something, but what?

Reināre instructed her clone with a serious facial expression, "Listen, we need you to show us where Tokusane Cave is! Show us the inside of it, too! Let us know if we should watch out for booby traps!"

The clone responded with a cocky smirk on its face, as a hot pink aura surrounded its body, "Sure thing, boss! I can show you all the treasure in the world, too!"

Everyone looked excited, as Reināre's clone quietly focused her mind and began to concentrate. What kinds of traps awaited the group in the cave, and how far would they have to go to reach the treasure? Were dark mages really setting them up, or was this job entirely for them to take without any mishaps? Sting held Reināre's left hand in his right hand, gulping a little upon wondering how difficult this treasure hunt would be.

"I see.. I see... Treasure in the cave! Not just that! I see precious loot, valuable gold, and ancient ruins! It's marvelous, and... It's going to be for all of you! There aren't any traps, so it's easy! Now, go to the cave! Move it, people!" Reināre's clone exclaimed, as her eyes were closed whilst supposedly concentrating.

Feeling no need to stick around any longer, Minerva and the others quickly ran out the doors to reach Tokusane Cave. This was a race to find the treasure, after all. That left Reināre's clone alone at the Sabertooth guild, but the sudden deceptive smirk on her face meant that everything she said was a pack of lies or she had some ulterior motive for being glad that she stayed behind. Making sure that no one was looking at her, Reināre's clone warped away in a split-second pink flash of psychic energy.

_"That's the first spell, I see. I'll call it Psy Warp. With that gullible girl and the rest of them off my back, I'm free to pay Fairy Tail an unexpected and unwelcomed visit." Mal thought, as she maliciously laughed while having a sadistic facial expression before she warped away._

* * *

**At the Fairy Tail guild...**

Juvia's legs had regained movement in them, at least enough for her to sit down at the bar and ask Cana to make her some sugary tea. Mira and Erza were so exhausted from fighting each other so hard, and they had both been panting heavily while respectively transforming back into their maroon dress and Heart Kreuz Armor. Juvia didn't even want to know what happened, since the searing pain in her body still wouldn't go away.

Cana exclaimed with a concerned look on her face, as Juvia had her head down and groaned, "Juvia, you just got back from a job where you received major injuries! You shouldn't move around right now! I'll make you some tea, but try not to push yourself too hard.

The Rain Woman replied, putting on a smile of assurance, "There's no need to worry, you know. Juvia won't be beaten so easily, even when her body may be injured. She's recovered most of her magical power and physical strength, so injuries are nothing to her right now."

Cana could only continue to look concerned for her friend's safety and health, knowing that wounds from high-level attack were nothing to scoff at. Wendy may have restored her energy, but Juvia's wounds were pretty deep and possible for blood loss if she pushed herself too hard physically or used tons of magical power for her attacks. Overall, she was trying to hide her pain.

"Hey, Juvia. Not that I plan on avenging your loss, but who did this to you?" Cana asked, looking at the purple wounds that had the color of poison and had made drilling holes and spiraling tears through her body and clothing.

The Rain Woman sighed before she spoke, afraid that Cana would laugh at her answer. It would probably be the most ridiculous response in the history of conversations, causing Juvia to put her trembling hands on her knees. She didn't know if Cana would believe her, but Juvia thought of Gray for a moment and tried summoning the courage to explain herself.

She unexpectedly shouted while she forced herself to find the willpower to speak, even if Cana didn't believe her, "It was Mal, Cana! The sorceress that Master Makarov and Gray have been chatting about! She attacked Juvia and Lisanna at Poison Swamp with no mercy at all! Her vicious eyes were so scary, and she looked just like Reināre!"

At that moment, Cana looked utterly shocked to know that Mal had attacked Juvia. She thought Mal was just a spirit now, but she somehow had a physical form? Cana's mind began to flash backwards to the fourth day of the Grand Magic Games, where Lucy unleashed that dark power from the black book and had gone totally violent on Natsu and Lisanna. She began to put the pieces together to see that they had been facing Mal at the time, having possibly been released from the black spells for that moment. She had to wonder if Lucy even knew about her, seeing as she was the book's master.

* * *

If Lucy didn't know this critical information, then Cana definitely needed to find her. She needed to do it fast, too. However, before she could even get out from behind the bar, a large pink blast of energy could be seen outside! It landed near the guild, and it certainly got the attention of everyone in Fairy Tail.

"What the hell is going on?" Laxus asked with a stern look on his face, as him and Makarov exchanged serious looks.

The guild had shaken a little bit from the blast, but they were certainly not safe. When the smoke cleared up, everyone looked shocked to see a girl standing in the middle of the crater with a menacing look in her sapphire blue eyes. She had a striking resemblance to Lucy Heartfilia, except with light brown hair, a black T-shirt that left her stomach exposed, a white miniskirt, and some black high heels. (Since Mal can use magic that Lucy/Reināre learns, she can give herself her own physical appearance.) Everyone wondered who she was, some even assuming she was Lucy.

Natsu exclaimed with an angry facial expression, as he ran down the stairs to block the entrance from the attacker, "You scared the crap out of us, you bitch! You nearly hit the guild, too!"

"I'm trying to destroy it, you mindless idiot. Ages have passed, but I still feel anger and hatred for Fairy Tail. This damned guild of light shall fall under my reign of darkness, so step aside." Mal replied viciously with a sadistic facial expression, as she turned to the spells of Fire Magic and watched the book turn red. It began to emit a pulsating red glow, signifying a new spell appearing.

Mal fell to her knees, and placed her palms on the ground while devilishly smirking. She sent her Fire Magic into the ground, and geysers of flames began to emerge from under where the guild was located. The red lava that came from the flames began to spread from each hole, resulting in everyone feeling its volcanic heat when it touched their feet. Gray tried using his ice to stop the magma, but the cold ice meeting volcanic lava only resulted in fiery explosions.

Natsu tried eating the flames and lava, but Mal's hellfire was not consumable for the fire dragon slayer. Instead of screaming, he swallowed the lava and combined it with his Fire Dragon's Roar. Natsu unleashed a swirling vortex of red flames at Mal, who took the attack head-on whilst laughing evilly. The flames became absorbed into her left palm, stunning Natsu and the others.

Erza said aloud, as she looked somewhat scared, "Something tells me that's not Lucy, and that girl means business."

Mal exclaimed with a sinister grin on her face while taking in a large breath of air, "Fairy Tail is about to go to Fairy Hell, little girl! This world will be remade by Mal, so remember that if I don't kill you! Let's see how you all like the heat of this next spell that I created from the red blood of the fire demon known as Kasai! Fire Demon's Lava Vortex!"

She released an extremely large vortex of fire from her mouth, and it changed colors between red and orange! The heat was really intense, as the vortex grew closer, and Makarov trembled upon realizing that Mal had been resurrected. If she wasn't stopped, the world would surely fall into darkness. Who could possibly end her, though? The fiery vortex smashed through the entire guild, thus creating an extremely large red and orange explosion of fire in the process. The explosion had also propelled all of the Fairy Tail mages into the air, most likely headed for Castelia Town when they had a painful landing.

The evil sorceress let out her devilish laughter, and grinned sadistically at the Fairy Tail guild turning to ashes before her. However, every wizard of darkness needed a place to be while wanting to have everyone on Earthland under her terrifying reign. She used a new spell known as Flame Creation, which allowed her to create anything from the power of her demonic flames. The guild was being rebuilt, but it was now becoming Mal's palace where she would watch everything when she became the dark queen of the world.

* * *

Sting wondered with a curious facial expression, as he, Rogue, Reināre, and everyone else heard and saw the sudden fiery explosion, "Whoa, that looks like it came from Fairy Tail! What did Natsu mess with this time?"

Before Reināre could giggle while she smiled, Juvia fell out of the sky and crashed down in front of her with a terrified look on her face while her body was charred and brown while she was shaking with intense fear.

"Wow, what happened?" Reināre asked nicely, looking down at the Rain Woman.

All she could utter in a frightened tone while trembling and looking up at the Sabertooth mages was, "So terrifying... Devilish lava... Hellfire from Mal..."

* * *

**How was Chapter 28? There were a lot of revelations and surprises, right? Sorry for somewhat changing from my original plot, but there will be StiCy in this final arc. Anyway, Mal has taken over Fairy Tail, and she is planning to take more than that! Can Lucy and Sting convince Minerva to help them out, since the world might be destroyed? Will Lucy and Mal finally meet in the second part of this three-part arc? Who wields the book better, and can Mal be defeated? Standby for the first half of the destined battle of sorceresses in Chapter 29!**


End file.
